West Milford captains lead Highlanders through historic boys lacrosse season

The West Milford High School boys lacrosse program has encountered more than their share of powerhouse opponents on the field this season. But, through finesse, talent, technique, confidence and team work the Highlanders are largely successful this spring.

Helping to guide the Highlanders both on and off the field this year are the senior team captains Evan Melucci, Tyler Acanfrio, Jacob Price, Stephen Dellagicoma and Patrick Foley.

“These student athletes lead by example both on and off the field, they excel in the classroom and on the field,’’ West Milford coach Gary Stoll said. “This has been an amazing season, as a team, this is the first time in school history we won a conference and county title. On the individual side we have two athletes closing in on 100 points, Cole Riley and Ryan Czeczuga. Brendan Coscia is quickly approaching 400 faceoff wins and to top it off goalie and senior captain Tyler Acanfrio has just broken the all-time saves record in New Jersey with 1,110, which is such an unbelievable feat.’’

As a team, the Highlanders have gotten better through hard work and dedication.

“This team has grown in every area of lacrosse,’’ Stoll said. “Our offense was young but managed to gel way faster than we imagined. And our defense led by our goalie held strong and was the focal point of our team.’’

The captains also are top-notch academically.

“Many of our student athletes are members of the National Honor Society, and many juniors were expected into various language honor societies this spring,’’ Stoll said. “This year, it was nice to see them lead by example, as well as demand the most of their teammates but managing to do it in a respectful way.’’

Through May 27, the Highlanders had 12 overall victories with a mark of 6-1 in the Pooley Division. They entered the NJSIAA North Jersey Group 2 Sectional Tournament as the No. 10 seed.

“This year, we thrived because we played as a team every player who stepped on the field helped us to succeed,’’ Stoll said. Some notable names are Dean Lombardo, Luke Maslanek, Kaiden Wilm, Cam Piecuch, Dan Burke, Brendan Coscia, Cole Riley, Ryan Czeczuga, Logan Rembrandt, Jake Riley, Jeff Papieneuk, George Martin, Jake Arata, Jason Guenter, Tyler Matthews, Mark Schinasi, Matteo Maculuso, Joe Torres, Bennet Accavallo and David VanTassel.’’