RBC Girls Defeat Rival Shore Regional in Lacrosse

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By Jim Hintelmann
RED BANK – With a veteran team back, RBC’s girls lacrosse team is looking for big things this season, and the Caseys cleared a major hurdle Saturday when it defeated traditional state power Shore Regional, 13-3, in a key A Division Central game.
Although the game ended up one-sided, it was a tight battle for the first 12 minutes, and Shore even took the lead, 2-1, on a pair of goals by Sarah George.
RBC, though, quickly settled down and scored the final 11 goals of the first half to go in front, 12-3.
“We were a little unsettled in the beginning,” RBC coach Lisa Caprioni said. “When Shore scored their second goal, I called time out and our four seniors helped to settle things down. We played outstanding the rest of the way.
“The game plan was to play the way we wanted to and dictate the flow of the game,” Caprioni said.
Amanda Casten, whose older brother, Andrew, is playing varsity football at Harvard, finished with five goals overall. She had six in one game last year.
“Beating Shore is big for us,” Casten said. “They are a big rival for us. We played very hard today, but we always bring our ‘A’ game when we play them.
“Our goal now is to get back to the Shore Conference finals again,” said Casten, who will be playing lacrosse at Rutgers next year. “We got there last year but were beaten by Rumson-Fair Haven.”
“Amanda played real well today,” Caprioni said. “She has scored about 90 goals in her career. She is very strong and does a nice job sliding in and out.”
Maeve Cowley, who will play at UMass, scored four goals while Grace Fallon scored two goals and assisted on three others while excelling on defense and running the offense.
“Grace is a coach’s dream,” Caprioni said. “She is very unselfish and is the whole package.”
“We came ready to play today,” Fallon said. “They put us back on our heels when they scored those two goals, but that made us wake up a little bit. The big key was to play defense as a unit.
“I think we’re getting better every day,” said Fallon, who held George, who will be playing lacrosse at Ohio State next spring, scoreless in the second half.
Fallon is winding up a stellar high school career in both lacrosse and basketball. As a junior she helped RBC’s basketball team to the Shore Conference and NJSIAA Non-Public A championships. She will be playing lacrosse next fall at Duke University on a full scholarship.