By: Carolyn M. Hartko
When it comes to drama, the 2001 Monroe Township High School boys’ varsity soccer team will be hard pressed to top last year’s squad. Last fall, the Falcons made it all the way to the championship game of the Greater Middlesex Conference tournament where they lost in sudden-death overtime to Piscataway.
Monroe returns seven starters and several other players with varsity experience from the squad that went 16-6-1 overall, and captured a GMC Blue Division title (9-0-1).
"With what we have coming back from last year, we should be very strong defensively," third-year head coach Steve MacKenzie said. "We’re very young up top. So, we might have to move a couple of guys around, depending on if we’re scoring goals or not."
Sophomore Dalton Carafolis returns for his second year in the varsity nets, more confident with a year of varsity experience behind him.
"Dalton’s looking good," MacKenzie said. "He’s gotten a lot stronger. He’s talking more. He’s becoming more of a leader. He’s working hard and doing a good job."
In front of Carafolis, senior Ricardo Moreira returns as sweeper with classmate Chris Johnson and junior Eric Seyfried as outside marking backs. Senior Ed Byrne is the backup for Carafolis, and he will see field time with the back line.
Moreira is one of the team captains, along with three senior midfielders, Matt Collura, Paul Greim and Dan Gibbons. Two sophomore newcomers (Tyler Chiara and John Jensen) will also get some starts in the midfield.
It is the frontline that MacKenzie is most concerned about as the season starts. The Falcons lost the team’s leading playmaker, Ozzie Delgado (11 goals, 18 assists) to graduation, as well as prolific midfielder Tim Gibbons (eight goals, four assists). In addition, senior Kofi Ahenkorah, who led the team in scoring last fall (16 goals, five assists) is unable to play due to NJSIAA eligibility rules.
"We put in a waiver to the state, because he’s too old," MacKenzie said. "But it didn’t pass, so he’s not playing this year. He’s ineligible."
Junior Greg Epstein, who started in the midfield last year, will play striker this fall, along with sophomore newcomer Scott Modzelewski. The Falcons have a deep bench this year with senior midfielders Ryan Septak and Jeff Harris, junior midfielders Andrew Hollander, Minor Joachin and Kevin Dower, and freshmen Tom Herkett (forward), Anthony Mancini (midi) and Tim Seyfried (defense).
"Scoring’s going to take a lot of effort," MacKenzie said. "It depends on how our sophomores do. How well and how quickly they adjust. And we’re going to have to do a better job finishing our opportunities. We’re not going to have as many as we did with Kofi and Oz. They produced a lot on their own. We’re going to have to do more attacking as a team."
MacKenzie had to try out some new combinations at last Saturday’s group scrimmage with Manalapan, Nottingham and Roselle Catholic. And there was one more scrimmage on tap this week before the season opener at South Brunswick at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The Falcons will be at South River on Monday, and host Middlesex on Wednesday and John F. Kennedy on Friday.
Monroe will play South Brunswick and South River with a handicap.
"We’re struggling to find a lineup right now," MacKenzie said. "Our upperclassmen have been a little inconsistent. And Ricardo’s out for the first two games because he got a red card in our last state game. So, we’ve been trying to find a lineup without him, and then with him. It’s been kind of hard on the guys, but we’ve been doing all right."
As far as the division race is concerned, Monday’s game against South River could prove important. MacKenzie feels that competition could be stiff in the Blue this season.
"I can’t get a good read on some of the teams," the coach said. "I know Metuchen is very senior oriented. They should be pretty good. JFK returns their two top scorers, but they lost a lot in the midfield and the back. They could be dangerous. Spotswood also could go either way, depending on what kind of class they bring in. And Middlesex should be better than they were last year. So, the Blue Division should be pretty good."
In spite of the losses on attack and the increased competition in the Blue, MacKenzie would like to see his team repeat as division champs this fall. The Falcons also expect to remain competitive in the county and state tournaments.

