By Wayne witkowski
Staff Writer
When the Brick Memorial players roll out the soccer balls today, it will not be for another routine summer day of workouts that began on July 4.
VERONICA YANKOWSKI Brick Memorial tri-captain Andrew Plunkett, shown here battling for the ball during a game against Washington Township last season, is back to help lead the Mustangs on the soccer field as they look to build on last year’s 16-3 campaign.
This time it’s serious — the start of what they call "hell week," which ushers in the NJSIAA’s mandated opening of fall practices.
Memories of a run to the Shore Conference Tournament championship (a 3-1 loss to Monsignor Donovan), and a fine 16-3 season highlighted by a No. 15 state ranking and ending in a 4-0 loss to Jackson in the NJSIAA Group IV South semifinals will be put aside as work begins in earnest toward a new season. And with what coach Kevin Bleim calls a "senior-heavy" team, this group knows full well about the demanding training and marathon practice sessions that begin for this team, and for others around the state.
And they also have to work hard at raising their level of play, to make up for the departure of All-State player Ed Mallue, who is at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Mallue hopes his talent will earn him some playing time early in his career on Army’s team.
"They’ve responded well, and still remember the Shore Conference finals," said Bleim. "They beat CBA, a strong team, in the tournament (a 3-2 victory over Christian Brothers Academy, which was the top seed and ranked No. 10 in the state at the time). Players who have been on the varsity for three years know what it’s all about and what it takes. And there are a lot of talented players from the jayvee who have a good shot of playing on varsity."
And what helps, says Bleim, is that many players are capable of playing many different positions.
"It looks great," said Bleim. "I’m really excited about the season. All of the players have been really dedicated to soccer. On paper, it looks great, but we’re in a tough division (A South). We have a lot of potential. The players are confident. So are the coaches."
Peter Malkmus, one of the tri-captains, feels having many returning seniors like himself and his twin brother, Luke, is a good asset.
"We’re definitely confident," said Peter. "We know we can get there (Shore Conference Tournament championship) again."
"It looks pretty good," said Andrew Plunkett, another tri-captain, who marked the opponent’s most dangerous scorer. "We’re hungry after losing in the Shore Conference finals last year. Having experience will definitely help us. We’re all friends."
And that will help when the times get tough in the grueling season that begins at home, Sept. 13, against Middletown South.
Playing on club teams also helped keep the players’ soccer sharp. Six of them, including the Malkmus brothers and Plunkett, played on the Toms River Jets that reached the State Cup finals before losing, 3-0, to the Bridgewater Nomads. The other three were Sean Docherty, Chris Cannon and Christian Flinton.
Andrew Perez is the other tri-captain, but Bleim said he also will rely heavily on the leadership of Docherty, Luke Malkmus and Evan Stankiewicz.
"What is important from here is the mental part of the game," said Bleim. "They all played on good club teams that are well-coached, so the knowledge is there. We need consistency both ways."
The players agreed.
"We have to work as a unit," said Plunkett. "Our goal has been to play as much soccer as possible."
And with Mallue no longer there as the go-to player, the team realizes that cooperation is essential. This is especially important early in the season, before anyone has emerged as a take-charge player.
"We have to make sure everybody passes because nobody is a star," said Peter Malkmus. "When he (Mallue) played, a lot of teams marked him, which freed up other players to do things when they weren’t covered. But even without him, we’ll be fine."
Bleim said stopping scoring threats is not a major concern because he has proven defenders, including Plunkett, who can push forward and become a scoring threat. Not to mention that he is plenty deep in goalies, including senior Steve Scutellaro, who saw considerable action last season sharing time in goal with Willie Cuzco, who graduated in what was supposed to be a rebuilding season but became a smash success.
"You always need to score goals," said Bleim. "We play a possession game, and when we’re inside the opponents’ 18, we need to finish because, in a possession game, you don’t have as many opportunities. But that’s not a bad thing, because if you have the ball, the other team can’t score."
The players begin to get put to the test next Saturday with a scrimmage at Point Pleasant Borough, followed by a Sept. 2 home scrimmage against Lacey, and an interesting one on the road Sept. 8 against Monsignor Donovan, where some players will be focused on revenge. The final one is Sept. 10 at home against Manalapan.