Jersey Shore boys, girls lacrosse: What to know for the opening day of 2024 season
The Tournament of Champions tournament may no longer be part of high school sports but the Kirst Cup may be here to stay for boys lacrosse.
That's good news for the fresh 2024 season which opens Monday, April 1, with six games involving girls teams from the Shore and eight games on the boys side. Keep checking APP.com for Players to Watch lists, preseason team rankings and Preseason All-Shore teams.
More: Shore girls lacrosse Preseason Top 15 team rankings
Last year, the inaugural Kirst Cup finished with Ridgewood winning the whole thing over Summit. The competition is in replacement of the TOC, which was an additional tournament of all the state champs competing down to a final winner. The often-criticized TOC termination was necessary, according to NJSIAA leadership, because of the desire to have more teams end their season on a positive note, and to loosen up the schedule for teams.
The only Shore team that competed for the Kirst Cup was state champ Rumson-Fair Haven led by Marc Moreau as head coach. In 2022, the Bulldogs played in the last TOC final.
The Kirst Cup was named after Kyle Kirst, a former Rutgers goalkeeper, high school coach and teacher who passed away in 2015. Friends said Kirst impacted the game in many ways including teaching kids how to be better players at Summit and Hanover Park High.
Moreau said he's all for the Cup continuing and Mountain Lakes coach Tim Flynn, who led Kirst Cup fundraising efforts on behalf of the New Jersey Interscholastic Lacrosse Coaches Association, said in a social media post $46,000 was raised - enought to "allow the coaches association to run this event for several years," he wrote.
The 2024 schedule has quarterfinals June 11, semifinals June 13 and the championship game on June 15, all at Kean University.
"It's critical I feel that it remains part of our season every year. One of the unique aspects of high school New Jersey lacrosse is that we always played down to one overall state champion," said Moreau.
"I think it's a great tradition, it's something personally myself and all the teams I've been associated with have always been the goal to go into every season to be the last team standing and I think it works in the sport of lacrosse because one year it could be a non-public team winning, the next year it could be a Group 4 public school, or it could be a Group 1 public school, one group doesn't dominate the sport. It's pretty spread out across all of them in terms of the best teams. Like basketball - non-publics dominate the sport in New Jersey. It's not like that in lacrosse. That's why I think it works so well in our sport," he continued.
Moreau has had a special connection with Kyle that goes back decades. Kirst, who was a father of five sons, knew Moreau and his children.
"We were teammates and roommates at Rutgers, we basically never lived more than two miles apart from each other, our children grew up together. I coached with him at Saint Joe's Metuchen High School and at Hanover Park High School. So I have a long connection with Kyle and his whole family."
Something new: Boys, girls Shore teams split into new divisions
On top of the Kirst Cup being a new addition to New Jersey lacrosse, the same goes for the divisions. Both boys and girls teams in the Shore Conference will now be split into four flighted divisions: American (the highest flight), Colonial, Freedom, and Constitution and Independence (girls only).
Boys lacrosse divisions
American: Christian Brothers Academy, Holmdel, Manasquan, Red Bank Regional, Rumson-Fair Haven, Shore, Southern, Wall
Colonial: Barnegat, Howell, Jackson Memorial, Manalapan, Middletown South, Point Pleasant Born, Red Bank Catholic, Toms River East
Constitution: Colts Neck, Freehold Boro, Long Branch, Marlboro, Middletown North, Neptune, Ocean, St. John Vianney
Freedom: Brick Mem., Brick Twp., Central Regional, Donovan Catholic, Jackson Liberty, Lacey, St. Rose, Toms River North, Toms River South
Girls lacrosse divisions
American: Manasquan, Middletown South, Red Bank Regional, Rumson-Fair Haven, Shore, Southern Trinity Hall
Colonial: Barnegat, Central, Lacey, Ocean, RBC, TRN, Wall
Constitution: Brick Twp., Colts Neck, Howell, Jackson Mem., Point Pleasant Boro, St. Rose, TRE, TRS
Freedom: Brick Mem., Freehold Twp., Holmdel, Manalapan, Marlboro, Middletown North, Monmouth, Point Pleasant Beach
Independence: Donovan Catholic, Jackson Liberty, Long Branch, Manchester Township, Neptune, Pinelands, Ranney, SJV
Opening day: schedules for Monday, April 1
Girls
Long Branch at Manalapan, 10 a.m.
Pinelands at Brick Memorial, 10 a.m.
Manchester Township at Brick Township, 10 a.m.
Jackson Liberty at Freehold Township, 10 a.m.
Sparta at Rumson-Fair Haven, 11 a.m.
Toms River South at Lacey, 11 a.m.
Boys
Brick Memorial at Ocean, 10 a.m.
Lacey at Long Branch, 10 a.m.
Brick at Colts Neck, 10 a.m.
Jackson Memorial at Freehold Township, 10 a.m.
Manasquan at Eastern, 10 a.m.
Ewing at Central, 10 a.m.
Ocean City at Wall, 11 a.m.
Holmdel at East Brunswick, 4:30 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Shore NJ lacrosse: Kirst Cup, schedules, new divisions for 2024
