Vikings are still the GMC's team to beat
But the rest of the pack may be closing the gap

Above, South Brunswick's Chris Laurita fires a shot past East Brunswick goalie Ray Lanzi during the Vikings' 15-14 win on Tuesday in East Brunswick. Below, the Vikings' Joe Ameika puts the hit on East Brunswick's Kyle Mascola

South Brunswick High School has been the top boys lacrosse team in the Greater Middlesex Conference all spring long.

In fact, the Vikings were downright dominant for much of the season, rightfully establishing themselves as the favorite to capture both the GMC regular season and GMC Tournament titles.

While the Vikings have in fact captured the regular season title on the heels of their perfect run through their conference schedule, there are some indications that head coach Mark Ziminski's may have a tougher time in the GMCT that a lot of people originally anticipated.

Last week, St. Joseph, the second-ranked team in the GMC came to South Brunswick hoping to close the gap between themselves and the Vikings a bit after being blown out, 23-10, the first time around. They did more than just close the gap, however, as they nearly knocked off the host Vikings before falling, 8-7. The Falcons looked like the better team early on, racing out to a 4-0 lead.

PHOTOS BY SCOTT PILLING staff

Trailing at the half to a Falcon team that seemed poised to hand the Vikings their first conference loss, South Brunswick responded with a stellar second-half effort, and managed to pull out the hard-fought win on Theo Smyk's man-up, fourth-quarter goal.

On Saturday, South Brunswick looked like its formidable self in besting a solid Hopewell Valley squad, 19-12, on the strength of six goals and two assists from Kory Kelly.

Then came Tuesday's game with East Brunswick, and once again, the Vikings got a bit of a scare from an improving conference for.

East Brunswick was game from the start on Tuesday, as the host Bears trailed just 9-7 at the half.

After getting a 4-3 scoring edge in the third quarter, the Bears trailed just 12-11 heading into the final frame, but were unable to pull off the upset, as the Vikings, led by Kelly's seven goals escaped with the 15-14 win. Kelly's performance continues his ascent up the state's scoring leaders list, as he now has 62 goals on the year, to go with 15 assists.

Teammate Chris Laurita is also among the state's top point-scorers, with 26 goals and 32 assists on the year.

With the victory, the Vikings, who are currently ranked 16th in the state and third in Group IV behind Hunterdon Central and Montclair, improved to 13-1 on the season, while the Bears fell to 4-7.

The Vikings and Bears will go at it again today, when East Brunswick travels to Monmouth Junction for a rematch.

While Tuesday's thriller goes in the books as another win for the Vikings, you can bet Ziminski and company are now well aware that their run at another GMCT title is going to more difficult than it looked like just a few weeks ago.