The Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School boys’ soccer team made a smashing debut this fall. For the first time, MEMS fielded separate seventh- and eighth-grade teams.
The younger seventh-graders won the Monmouth County Intermediate School Soccer League American Conference playoff championship their first time around, beating eighth-grade teams along the way. The Bears, coached by Dave Shadell, posted an overall 12-1 record and beat Colts Neck, 2-1, in overtime in the MCISSL final.
The Bears shared the MCISSL regular season Division I championship with Marlboro. It was Marlboro that handed MEMS its only loss of the season.
The Bears got a rematch with Marlboro in the playoffs and prevailed in a thrilling shootout. Goalie Jordan Borstein made two critical saves in the shootout that allowed the Bears to advance.
Defense was the Bears’ trademark as they permitted just 15 goals in their 13 matches. Adam Hegel, Brett Fenimore, Gerald Melillo and Jason Liebes spearheaded the defense, while Borstein and Scott Feinerman were both very dependable in the net.
MEMS’ offense did its share of damage behind a very balanced attack, striking for 56 goals. Justin Franco and Justin Stones shared the goal-scoring lead with 10 each. Alex Baker (four), Matt Quackenbush (four) and Matt Epstein (three) also contributed to the scoring up front.
The Bears’ midfield featured all-around players who contributed both offensively and defensively. Brian Grimm was the team’s field leader and chipped in with six goals.
Also playing a strong midfield game were Alan Ball, Sean Walters, Steve Liapis, David Levy and Matt Dotto.
Rounding out the championship effort was Tom Brandlein, Frank Colasuonno, Alexander Guzzo, Markous Samaan, Rohit Sharma, Harrison Stein and Zachary Tenen.
St. Rose of Belmar was the girls’ MCISSL American Conference playoff champion, beating Colts Neck, 1-0, in the title game.