By Mike White
Staff Writer
CHRIS KELLY Jackson’ Ryan Mogila attempts to back-kick a throw-in with a Monsignor Donovan defender closing in on him during Saturday’s Shore Conference Tournament semifinal game in Hazlet.
Playoff losses can be difficult to bounce back from. But Jackson High School boys’ soccer coach Fred Napoli is confident his squad will have put its Shore Conference semifinal loss to Monsignor Donovan behind them when they host a South Jersey Group III second-round playoff game this Friday afternoon.
The Jaguars, who are the No. 2 seed behind top-seeded and undefeated Shawnee, meet the winner of the Little Egg Harbor-Rancocas Valley at 2 p.m.
Last year, the Jags suffered a devastating 3-2 loss in sudden death to Winslow Township in the opening round of the state playoffs.
Jackson enters the contest with an overall record of 13-3. Napoli is certain his team is ready to play.
"The kids were disappointed after losing in the semis of the Shore Conference, but we’ve managed to put that behind us," Napoli said.
"We worked out hard all this week in preparation for this game. This is what we have been focusing on the last couple of days. We need to come out and play hard. If we can capitalize on opportunities and limit our mistakes, I feel we have a good shot at advancing to the next round."
Junior forward Ryan Mogila leads Jackson’s offense. Mogila has scored 21 goals for the Jags this season. He is surrounded by a cast of capable players, including Nick Gkionis, Doug Rodkey, Mike Materia, Rob Kane and goalie Nick Lyons, just to name a few.
Napoli is hoping Jackson’s offense creates a few more scoring chances than it did against Mon Don Saturday. In that semifinal loss, the Jags failed to capitalize when opportunities did arise.
"We played very hard that day, but we just didn’t play as well as a team as I thought we could," Napoli said.
"We had a couple of real good chances, but didn’t finish them. When you are playing a team like Mon Don, you have to capitalize when it is there."
Jackson hit the post on one attempt and was robbed of a couple of goals by Mon Don goalie Tommy Longo, who made six saves.
"Their defense did a solid job of marking up on us in their own end," Napoli said.
"Their goalie made a couple of outstanding saves."
Monsignor Donovan registered its first goal early in the game. Jim Calabrese scored off a corner kick from Justin McGrath in the 15th minute to give the Griffins a 1-0 lead.
They added an insurance goal in the second half. Casey Zambor fired a shot past Lyons in the 55th minute to ice the win.
"It was a tough loss," Napoli said. "There is no question we were disappointed with the outcome. We felt we could have played a little bit better. We’re hoping we can do that Friday in the state playoffs."