Holmdel boys lacrosse team getting hot at the right time: 'We all have the same goal'

HOLMDEL — With three consecutive wins, the Holmdel High boys lacrosse team is getting hot at the right time.

The host Hornets picked up a 12-3 win Friday over surging Manalapan, which had an eight-game winning streak come to an end.

With the Shore Conference and NJSIAA tournaments coming up, Holmdel's players say they're keyed up for a big finish. Last year Holmdel (10-4) won four postseason games but was eliminated in both tournaments by Manasquan.

“After last year, all these seniors wanted to go far," said senior Will Gilfillan. "We all have the same goal and (are) pushing for it.”

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By the numbers

Gilfillan finished the match against Manalapan with two goals and five assists. Junior attackman Brian Volpe led the team in scoring with four goals. Sophomore and attackman Finnegan Buchan had three goals.

More: VOTE: Who's the boys lacrosse Shore Class of 2024 senior Player of the Year?

They said it

“I think we’re one of the top teams,” said senior and longstick midfielder Matt Tempone. “We lost a tough one to Shore (a one-goal loss April 24) and hoping to get that one back. We all want to go far and we’re going to do whatever it takes to get there.”

Holmdel analysis - it starts with defense

The most noticeable strength the Hornets have had is their defense. They’re unbeaten this season when holding their opponents to single digits, and the last three games they’ve done just that.

They have sophomore Jack Tiller defending the net and he has “started to figure it out a little bit,” according to Holmdel head coach Brendan Quinn. Overall, Hornets have also made some adjustments since back-to-back losses to Shore and CBA.

“Against couple of the good teams we found some flaws in our zone, in practice we fixed a few things, tidying up and it’s been going well,” said Gilfillan.

Will Gilfillan runs Hornets hive

Gilfillan, a Catholic University commit, has been a consistent scorer for Holmdel since sophomore year. However, this season, he’s really turned up his passing game and defensively he causes havoc for teams trying to clear the ball. He doesn’t come off the field.

To put it simply: Holmdel relies heavily on Gilfillan to make the right play, and more often than not he does.

“We returned a good amount of firepower on offense,” said Quinn. “Will just has such a good head on his shoulders, his IQ is through the roof, he’s going to make the right decision every time the ball is in his stick and it really gets the rest of our offense flowing. He’s really good at finding the open man. He’s good at taking it himself and taking the game over as well.”

Alongside of him on offense are Volpe and Buchan. Both are great cutters that can catch the ball in weird positions and still get a good shot off. The offense gets ran through by Gilfillan with the ball, but it’s those two guys that finish the play.

“Been having a lot of assists this year and most of them have been to him,” Gilfillan said about Buchan. “He’s always sliding to me early and he finds a way to get open, and (I) find him.”

Holmdel’s zone defense has ramped up in recent games

Tempone is one of the main leaders on the defensive side of the ball. The three-year starter was described as ‘the general’ on the defensive side by his head coach. With a good number of upperclassman, Quinn also mentioned that it’s been the senior leadership that has kept the Hornets solid on defense.

Quinn also shared that it’s his defensive midfielders who are also work horses that take pride in making stops. With an underclassman as a goalie, the Hornets make sure to all play team defense in helping. They slide well and communicate in their zone defense.

The last word

“Defensively we are mainly a zone team,” said Quinn. “We want to slow the game down until we can speed it up.

"We want to slow the game down...we like to push in transition and get the ball to our offense as fast as possible.”

“Gary Collyer, Jack Cannon, Greg Linsalata and Will Gilfillan all take their share of D-Mid runs and they embrace it,” Quinn continued. “Those guys are really the focal point of our offense too, but they take pride on what they do on the defensive end as well.”

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ Shore boys lacrosse: Holmdel players to watch, tournament preview