Big East lacrosse next Allentown’s Mueller

Matt Mueller said he’s been dreaming of playing in the Big East. “I always wanted to play against teams like Syracuse, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Connecticut. It’s a dream come true,” said the three-sport standout.

The Allentown High lacrosse star who scored a career school record of 127 goals, gets that opportunity this fall when he begins a college career at Providence College, R.I., which is on the rebound from a winless season.

“I like it there because it’s not a big city like New York or Philadelphia, [and is] a good environment for college students where you feel safe,” said Mueller, who plans to major in finance. He said he didn’t think about Providence until riding around in the area during a visit to Brown University. “My mom asked if I had contacted them [Providence], and I said I didn’t and that maybe I should,” he said.

The 6-foot-3 attack player is joining many other players from the Colonial Valley Conference on the Power Tech select team that will play at the War at the Shore showcase in Sea Girt in early August.

Mueller said he is on a fitness program from Providence that calls for weight training three days a week and running six days a week to meet the challenges of playing in NCAA Division I where athletes are faster and stronger. Mueller was also a wide receiver for the football team and a center for the basketball team.

In lacrosse, he led the Redbirds in scoring in each of the past three seasons. He scored 38 goals this season, three more than he scored as a junior. But it couldn’t save the rebuilding Redbirds from missing the NJSIAA Tournament for the first time in its eight seasons of existence in a 7-11 season.

“When we played well, we were more of a unit,” said Mueller. “In those games, everyone was ‘on’ and pulled their weight, which took the weight off my shoulders and made it easier for me as a player.”

“We had a pretty young team this year, but I felt the team made significant growth in skills as the season progressed,” said coach Michael Kays, as his team ended the season with a resounding 17-1 victory over Hamilton West. “I was very pleased with the outcome of the season, and encouraged by the accomplishments and the commitment being made by our returning players.”

Mueller became only the second 100- goal scorer at Allentown in his third game of his senior year and surpassed the previous record of 113 goals held by Mark Payson, who graduated two years ago and is the only other Allentown player to go on to an NCAA Division I college program at Wagner.

But Kays said Mueller “is not just a shooter but saw the game better. He would’ve had more assists this year but sometimes his teammates dropped his passes. His field sense got better. He became more selfless. He had more knowledge of the game and kept his head up. If we had a bad game, he looked forward to the next one.”

In only the second year of the Mercer County Tournament, Allentown won its first game with an 8-7 victory as Mueller scored the winning goal. It avenged Highstown’s 11-4 victory over Allentown less than a week earlier.

Allentown’s best season was 9-7 in 2007.

“I felt if I got my hands free, I could shoot. I wouldn’t turn down an opportunity [to shoot],” said Mueller with a laugh. “My teammates would dodge [defenders] and then they’d find me. I learned I had to dodge more myself to create [scoring] opportunities. And I knew I was targeted by [opposing] defenses but had the mindset no one could stop me and I did what I had to do.”

“It’s his overall athleticism, he looks big up front and has the shot. He can play every facet of the game. We had actually thought about moving him to defense,” said Kays of Mueller.

Chris Pepe, who will be a senior this fall, was the No. 2 scorer with 20 goals and 15 assists. Scott Keller, a senior, and sophomore Mark Kwitniak started on the attack.

Mueller’s leadership and skills will be missed along with four others who departed from Allentown, including Garrett Marshall, a long pole middie who started the last three seasons and is looking to walk on at the University of Scranton; Chris Bartoli, a junior attack; and Trevor Toms, a long pole middie; and Carey Kells, a goalkeeper and defensive midfielder.

Expect big seasons again from Tyler Freeman, a junior this fall who is a tenacious one-on-one defender, and sophomore goalie Ryan O’Leary, along with outside midfielders Trevor Fernes, a senior, and Chris Johnson, a junior.

“Although we did not have as many wins as we would’ve liked, we definitely improved the quality of our play,” said Mueller. “We had fewer wins than some seasons but the schedule was harder.”

Kays also is looking to rising seniors James Kiczalis, on defense, Justin Frederick, as a defensive midfielder, and Brian Tobias, as a midfielder, along with Luke Olexsak, as a defensive midfielder.

“We’re concentrating on our offense, to protect and hold onto the ball,” said Kays. “We spent a lot of time this season on defense and it wore us down. We need to be better ball handlers and faster with the ball. If we can do that, it’ll improve our record.”