Hightstown shows growth in reaching semifinals

MOORESTOWN >> When the Hightstown boys lacrosse season ended Tuesday evening at Moorestown High School, there was no hollering from Mike Zapicchi, no grand speech. The head coach quietly made his rounds and told his players to go find their family members who made the trip.

A 15-5 loss in the South Jersey Group III semifinals reminded the Rams of the work still ahead, but being one of two Mercer County public schools to advance this far in states offered solace at the apex of a promising campaign.

“We’re still a new and developing program, and I’m proud of the way the guys are playing so far,” Zapicchi said. “Coaches will tell us after each game, ‘You’ve got athletes, you’ve got athletes, you’ve got athletes.’ And you know what? We’re tired of being athletes. We want to be lacrosse players now. We’re ready to break through, and I think this year making the semis, we’re getting there. I’m proud of the direction this program is going.”

Fifth-seeded Hightstown (11-8) came within one win of the sectional final by beating 12th-seeded Brick Township, then knocking off fourth-seeded Clearview last week. That set up a date with top-seeded Moorestown (15-3), the defending champion and a traditional state power from the Skyland Conference.

The Quakers’ depth, speed and wealth of talent was evident from the outset. Moorestown outshot Hightstown, 14-3, in the first quarter. The Rams trailed by only one goal entering the second quarter. The Quakers then struck rapid fire with six goals and led, 8-1, at halftime.

Frankie Labetti netted a hat trick in the first half and finished with four goals. Ben Cantwell scored a game-high five goals for Moorestown, whose relentlessly crisp passing ultimately overwhelmed Hightstown.

“We tried to put something in a little different with our zone defense,” Zapicchi said. “We were successful with it in the first quarter. We managed to keep it real close. In the future with a little more time to practice it, I think it’ll be a little more successful.”

Yani Peters got Hightstown on the board with 44.6 seconds left in the first when he sized up one of Moorestown’s physical defenders and scored unassisted. But the Rams would not score again until three minutes into the third.

Still, Hightstown ended the game strong with three of the last four goals after trailing, 14-2, going into the fourth.

Sean Haddock scored two goals while Ryan Daunt and Michael Quigg each added one. Tom Harnett notched an assist. Goalkeeper Luke Nagy saved 20 shots.

After losing to Notre Dame in the Mercer County Tournament quarterfinals, the Rams responded with the program’s best finish in states and the second 11-win season in three years under Zapicchi. And the core of this group will be back next year once it graduates only six seniors.

“I’m proud of the way our guys finished out the season,” Zapicchi said. “We know this is a good team and we were really looking forward to coming and playing them and seeing what some of the best competition in the state can be.” (H); Haddock 2, Daunt, Peters, Quigg Hartnett (H);

H: 22; Nagy 20 (H);