Mount Saint Mary lacrosse program fosters camaraderie, prepares students for the next level

Camaraderie is a core aspect of Mount Saint Mary Academy that comes to mind when Brynn Merklinger reflects on her time there as a student-athlete.

The school features an attractive lacrosse program not only because it wins countless games and sends many girls to play in college. With only a few hundred enrolled students, Mount Saint Mary also has an enriching experience for the players throughout the school day.

Whether it be going to shoot lacrosse balls, holding a pasta dinner or simply hanging out together, the girls form a unique connection after school as well.

“I think all of the girls on the team each year, no matter what, if you’re a freshman, if you’re a sophomore, everyone is so close, and I think that’s one of the things that I really love about playing at Mount,” said Merklinger, a Mendham native who graduated this spring. “All of the girls see each other at least twice every day whether it’s lunch or a break period or even in class. We see each other all the time. Everyone is friends so we hang out outside of school, and then we get to practice or we get to a game, and everyone is just so bonded.”

Seeing their growth as teammates is what Matt Anzalone enjoys the most about coaching the varsity lacrosse team.

“I just think that sports play such an important role in life – in how you handle adversity, in teamwork and those things,” Anzalone said. “I love seeing the growth of a player and the leadership skills that build from their freshman year as a varsity player: kind of just being in the corner, quiet, to now coming as a junior and senior and seeing that confidence in themselves and being able to portray that not only vocally but out on the field. So for me, it’s really just seeing their growth as individuals. That’s the most fulfilling thing to really get out of this.”

The division titles and state tournament runs are just a bonus for Anzalone, but his program has indeed done plenty of winning as well. Since Anzalone began coaching the team in 2015, Mount Saint Mary has posted a record of 131-54 with six Skyland Conference division crowns. The Lions were ranked top-10 in New Jersey during the 2021 season, when Merklinger began her stellar career as a four-year varsity player and went on to score 138 goals and 86 assists.

“Mr. Anzalone is a very tough coach and he cares about our success, which is obviously a good thing to have in a coach,” Merklinger said. “We had a lot of success over the past four years when I was on the team, and that obviously makes it a lot more fun when you’re doing well.”

The Lions had never won a division, a state tournament game or a county tournament game prior to Anzalone’s arrival. But he emphasizes that his program doesn’t recruit the most talented players. It’s been about creating a culture where seniors don’t get special treatment, and studying games on Hudl is a routine part of practices that typically run for at least two hours.

“For me it didn’t really matter what grade you were in. If you could play, you could play,” said Anzalone, who played lacrosse at Oratory Prep and then Susquehanna College. “I started about five freshmen on that 2015 team and I kind of radically benched the senior goalie for a sophomore goalie and just shifted the culture, focusing on preparation. They had never done any film work before, so that was something I stressed with them: being prepared, the tone at practice and being more disciplined. We set goals and wanted to change the future of the program.”

This year the Lions played in the Somerset County semifinals and then the quarterfinals of Non-Public A – arguably the most difficult bracket in the state. They aim to advance even further next spring.

“We’re definitely gonna look to be strong again to win in the county and the states, hopefully advancing to the semifinals next year,” Anzalone said. “That’s something I would like to get to – to that final four – and we have a really strong junior class, so that’s definitely possible.”

Merklinger was one of six players on this year’s team who committed to a college for lacrosse and will be a Division I student-athlete at Rider University in the fall.

In previous years the program has developed about 10 Division I student-athletes including two for the Ivy League. Alaina Parisella, a 2018 graduate who played at Brown University, holds Mount Saint Mary’s school record with 473 points.

Anzalone said the program attracts girls who grew up playing club lacrosse mostly from the surrounding counties of Hunterdon, Somerset, Union and Morris.

“There is sort of a learning curve for them because they’re just entering high school, and now they’re playing against seniors and juniors that are already committed Division I, II or III,” Anzalone said. “There is a bit of a learning curve in what we call ‘lax IQ.’ That’s where I kind of fill the gaps, but the girls that do come in typically do have a strong baseline and are obviously eager and ready to learn.”

Merklinger grew up in a lacrosse family with five brothers who played lacrosse and a father who played at Boston College. She originally didn’t want to play it herself, but she fell in love with the sport on her own when she tried a clinic as a third grader. She eventually became serious enough about it to play year-round as part of the STEPS Lacrosse program, but her decision to attend Mount Saint Mary’s was academically driven as well.

“My teammates always make it the best for me,” Merklinger said. “That’s why I always am like, ‘I’m gonna come back,’ because I love playing with all the girls. I had a really good freshman year. I bonded really well with the seniors that were there when I was a freshman, so that made coming in very welcoming. And then sophomore year I was still friends with all the girls, and same for junior year and obviously this year.”

Merklinger reached the 200-point plateau this spring as one of Mount Saint Mary’s two team leaders alongside fourth-year starting defender Shannon Rooney, a Radford University commit.

Merklinger and junior Grace Dailey, a Denison University commit who also hit 200 points, both garnered First Team honors in the Skyland Conference’s Delaware Division. Rooney earned Second Team honors as did Ella Reed, a junior who committed to Davidson and got her 100th point.

“The amount of camaraderie on this team each year is crazy,” Merklinger said. “I just love playing with all the girls because everyone is so happy to play together, which obviously makes the experience way more fun.”