Holmdel Lacrosse's Matt Micali is a One-Year Wonder

When Holmdel’s 2010 boys lacrosse season was winding down, the Hornets knew they were going to have a glaring hole at goalie that could possibly be an Achilles’ heel in what had the potential to be a banner 2011 season.

Midfielder Mike Cantelli figured he knew just the man for the job – his good friend Matt Micali. There was just one small issue with that choice.

“I had never even touched a lacrosse stick before,’’ Micali said. “I maybe saw lacrosse on TV a few times.’’

With a team loaded with senior talent, the Hornets needed somebody to step up and defend the net to help them achieve what they hope will be the best season in the three-year history of their varsity program. They ended up entrusting that duty to a senior who had never played lacrosse in his life.

He will be in the net on Tuesday when the fourth-seeded Hornets begin what they hope is their deepest run ever in the Shore Conference tournament when they host 13th-seeded Monsignor Donovan. After having just won their first SCT game in school history last season, they now have a chance to break into the top four in the conference with a goalie who had never played an organized lacrosse game until his senior year.

“It’s been pretty amazing,’’ said Holmdel coach Sal Guastella.

Micali had played basketball and baseball at the youth levels, but his baseball career as a pitcher came to an end when he had shoulder surgery as freshman. He also quit playing basketball before his senior year. Still, his athleticism made him a definite option for a team in need.

Micali also knew that this was the most loaded Hornets team yet, so he had a chance to be part of something special if he gave it a try.

“That's definitely something I was interested in,’’ he said. “I had never succeeded in any sport I've played in high school so far, and the fact that a good team needed my help, I definitely wanted to be there.’’

His transformation from a spectator to a goalie wasn’t without some second thoughts and bumps in the road. He can remember putting on his goalie gear in the parking lot at the high school in early June, preparing to have Guastella take some practice shots on him in the net for the first time.

“I was like, ‘What the hell is going on right now?’’ he said before laughing.

Gradually he began to gain confidence while using his raw athletic ability and not much technique. He did everything he could to prepare for his one and only season, playing in a junior varsity league in Sea Girt during the summer, and then suiting up for the Hornets in an indoor winter league at GoodSports USA in Wall.

Eventually, he started to understand what was going on beyond the basics of just stopping the ball after some early blank stares at teammates trying to give him advice.

“During the winter leagues, there were only two D-poles on the field at a time, so there was no help defense,’’ Micali said. “I would say to (senior defender Steve) McGrory, ‘What's going on right now?’ He would be saying that during the season, I would learn all the slide packages. I gave him a look like, ‘What on earth are you talking about?’

Micali was all set to attend a goalie camp at the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., over the Christmas holiday, but a paralyzing snowstorm that hit the East Coast denied him the opportunity. He was not guaranteed the starting goalie spot, as he entered the preseason in competition with another player, but that player eventually left the team because he wanted to focus on his schoolwork.

“The other goalie was a converted attackman who understood the game a little more than Matt did, but Matt was more of an athlete,’’ Cantelli said. “He picked it up so fast that you couldn't tell that one player was playing so much longer than the other.’’

The job belonged to Micali, who had not yet realized that the margin for error for a lacrosse goalie is a little more than he had initially conceived.

“I didn’t know lacrosse that well until now, so I would think of it like a hockey goalie, where giving up three or four goals a game is bad,’’ Micali said. “When my save numbers are 10 saves and five goals, I wasn’t sure if those are good numbers or what good numbers are, so I would get down on myself even if I played a good game.’’

“He hates giving up goals,’’ Cantelli said. “You would expect a first-year kid, if a shot goes in, to say, ‘Well, it's my first year, no big deal.’ He doesn't want to let a goal in, ever. He will hit his stick into the net and get fired up if he allows a goal because he feels like he should stop everything.’’

Guastella spent more time with Micali than the average goalie because of the amount he had to learn, and another important aspect was bolstering Micali’s confidence. He was going to suffer through rough patches like any first-year goalie and needed to make sure he did not get discouraged. Micali also had to deal with the pressure of being the missing ingredient who had to learn on the fly in a hurry so that the Hornets were able to achieve their lofty goals.

“I felt some pressure, but at the same time in my mind, if I didn't succeed, what more could they expect?’’ Micali said. “I tried my hardest, and I wasn't too intimidated by the fact that they were all skilled.’’

Guastella also loaded up the scrimmage and regular-season schedule with Shore Conference and state powers, including top 20 teams like Mendham and Mahwah. The learning curve was going to be steep for Micali against an unforgiving schedule, but Guastella wanted it that way in order to prepare him for tournament season.

In a way, Micali’s ignorance was a gift because he didn’t know enough to get nervous. Many of Holmdel’s more experienced seniors have played on offseason traveling teams with the talent from places like Mendham and Mahwah and knew what they were in for, but Micali essentially had no idea.

 “Besides what I heard in the pregame about where a team is ranked, I didn’t know the difference between Barnegat and Mahwah,’’ Micali said.

The Hornets only lost 8-6 to Mendham, the defending NJSIAA Group II champion, while a lop-sided loss to Mahwah showed them a caliber of competition that is better than any they will see in the SCT.

“I left him in for the end of the Mahwah game because I wanted him to see those shots,’’ Guastella said. “They were five yards further out from what we've seen all year. It was a whole other level because they have a bunch of All-Americans. Still, he made three or four saves at the end of the game and didn’t leave feeling that bad.’’

Micali has gone from novice to asset, as he does more than just stop the ball. Holmdel is able to employ a 10-man clear with him, something it could not do with last year’s goalies because Guastella said they were not good enough athletes to come out of the net. Micali even has a shutout to his credit from a win over St. Rose, and only allowed one goal in a victory over St. John Vianney.

As Holmdel seeks its first trip to the SCT semifinals this week, Micali is just trying to enjoy the ride before he heads off to become a student at the University of Maryland. His teammates and coaches can’t help but wonder if he would have joined the five other seniors on the Hornets who are headed to play lacrosse in college if he had only taken up the sport sooner.

“He has picked it up unbelievably fast,’’ Cantelli said. “It's really incredible. Imagine if he would've started when we were freshmen how good he would be?’’

“If he had been playing since his freshman year, he would be a college goalie,’’ Guastella said.

Micali refuses to look back on what might have been, instead focusing on how far he has come and how much fun he has had after agreeing to take a chance on a sport he had never played.

“I’m not really kicking myself (for not playing earlier),’’ he said. “It’s nice that my teammates say that. Really, it’s just that I’m a competitor. I love sports, and I just really wanted to be a part of this team with all this talent and see what we can do.’’