Seton Hall Prep lacrosse team beats state-ranked foes Delbarton and Manasquan

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Seton Hall Prep lacrosse team had a great week defeating two state-ranked teams last week to raise its record to 9-2. 

Currently ranked No. 5 in New Jersey by the Star-Ledger and No. 25 in the country by Inside Lacrosse magazine, the Pirates defeated New Jersey No. 3–ranked Delbarton, 11-8, at Brendan P. Tevlin Memorial Field on Tuesday, April 26. 

The Pirates jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first quarter on a goal by junior Andrew Daly, two goals by senior James Bailey and one goal by senior Max Racich. 

In the second quarter, Delbarton outscored the Pirates 4-1 as Bailey scored to make the halftime score 5-5. 

In the third quarter, Seton Hall took an 8-5 lead on a goal by senior Quinn Spillett and two goals by Racich. In the final quarter, both teams scored three goals. Spillett, senior JP Meyo, and junior Elijah Rippey scored for the Pirates. Senior Will Giarrusso won five of 13 faceoffs, while sophomore Luigi Pantano won five of 10 faceoffs. Senior John “Jaz” Zanelli had six saves for the Pirates. 

Following the game, Racich said, “I think this is a big morale booster for us. We had this date circled on our calendar since last June. Today, we got the job done.” 

Bailey said, “We got off to a hot start with a lot of energy. At halftime, we said that we needed to get the energy up again in the second half because Delbarton tied it up. We were able to get the energy back up in the second half and got the job done.”

On Saturday, April 30, at home, the Pirates defeated New Jersey No. 14–ranked Manasquan, 11-8. Seton Hall took a 2-1 lead on the strength of goals by sophomore Christian Schweiger and Meyo at the end of the first quarter. They increased their lead to 7-4 at the half on the strength of three goals by senior Matt Wrede and single goals by Rippey and Meyo. They increased their lead to 9-5 after the third quarter on two goals by Racich. In the final quarter, Spillett and Schweiger scored. Giarrusso won 10 of 23 faceoffs. Zanelli had seven saves.