Freshman Matt Olentine (left) scored his first varsity goal off an assist by senior brother Mike
The role of brothers in the history of lacrosse is well established. There are the legendary Powell brothers (Casey, Ryan and Mikey) and the Gait brothers (Gary and Paul) all of whom are considered among the game’s all-time greatest players. #1 Ranked UVA has 4 sets of brothers on its current roster. And PHS currently has 3 brotherly tandems on its home Varsity roster. The Bryant twins, Allen and Doug, got the fraternal party going on Thursday when it was announced during Senior Day introductions that both were named 1st Team All-CVC, with Allen garnering CVC Player of the Year honors. Then in the 2nd quarter of the Hightstown contest, 1st Team All-CVC attackman Mike Olentine joined freshman brother Matt Olentine on the attack line. Matt seemed to have forgotten the brotherly script when he immediately intercepted a Hightstown defender’s pass to the goalie and quickly fired off a shot the goalie was lucky to deflect. After the Tigers regained possession about 30 seconds later, Mike lined a nice pass to Matt which the younger Olentine shot passed the Ram goalie for his first regular season varsity goal (Matt scored 2 goals in the Wyoming Seminary scrimmage). The home fans went nuts and wanted an encore, this time with the Sandford brothers, senior Joe and sophomore Nick. Nick, having witnessed Matt’s varsity playing time ended with his goal, decided to enjoy the varsity spotlight a little longer and kept the fans in suspense, but with a generous older brother feeding at every opportunity, Nick also scored his first regular season varsity goal on his older brother’s assist, again causing the home fans, including many stars from the PHS 2007 varsity squad, to erupt. Other highlights of this memorable Senior Day and regular season finale included senior midfielder Alex Henry’s 2 goals and Robby Dowers being named 1st Team All CVC defender. Many thanks to the volunteers that organized the Senior Day festivities and the senior gifts. For The Star Ledger coverage click here.