Team runs out of gas late
By: John Beisser
The Manville High boys’ soccer team dropped its first two games of the season but there were many positives that first-year head coach Mike Shambach took away from the two outings.
On Friday, the Mustangs battled the Princeton Day School on even terms before allowing a late goal in a 1-0 loss. The following afternoon, Manville ran into a talented and deep Bernards team. Manville trailed by just a 1-0 count before Bernards wore down the Mustangs with four second half goals en route to a 5-0 victory.
"Our guys never quit, that’s probably the biggest positive that came out of the two games," Shambach said. "I like this team because they fight and scratch and never give up. We played very well in the first 25 minutes of both games but we got a little tired, particularly against Bernards. We are working on improving our conditioning."
Shambach was pleased with his team’s defense and is confident that, in the coming games, the Mustangs’ offense will get on track as well. Defenders Marvin Sosa, Pawel Maziarz, Jim Lozada and Ronny Lobo were singled out for praise by Shambach, who also recognized the fine play of left halfback Roland Yakobchuk.
"Roland is really the nails of the team," Shambach said. "He never stops running out there and is a real big part of what we’re doing."
Goalkeepers Andrew Saultz and Chris Kocur split time in goal in each of the first two contests. In the opener, Princeton Day punched in a goal off a header with six minutes left in the game but Shambach was proud that his team did not back down and nearly tied the game minutes later.
"Like I said, our guys never quit and we pressured them and nearly came up with the equalizer," he said. "David Brozyna had a pin-point shot that sailed just a little bit high."
Another encouraging note for Shambach is that Princeton Day is regarded as a solid team with big-play potential.
"They were coming off a strong season last year. They tied Lawrenceville. I thought we had a balanced attack with good passing in the midfield. We had several good chances to score. Our defense and midfield played very well and am confident that our forwards will get untracked as the season goes on. Overall, I thought it was a strong opening day effort."
Manville may have suffered from fatigue playing its second game in less than 24 hours to start the season. The Mountaineers are also very good.
"Against Bernards, it was simply a case of being out-manned by a more skilled team. "We were right with them but then they pulled away," Shambach said. "But, like in the first game, the guys didn’t quit. This is a good group to coach. After the game, the Bernards coach complimented me on how respectful our team was. They play hard, but they don’t play dirty and I’m proud of them."
On Monday, Manville was slated to play former Mountain Valley Conference rival and current Skyland Conference foe North Plainfield in the 2006 home opener. On Tuesday, Manville was scheduled to host Belvidere on Senior Parents Night in a 7:00 p.m. tilt on the football field.
"We only had one scrimmage, so I’m very encouraged by our first two games," Shambach said. "Our conditioning needs to improve but there are a lot of positives that we can take out of the first two games."

