South soccer heading to peak

Stuart’s return aids Pirate boys’ defense

By: Bob Nuse
   Just about every season is filled with its share of peaks and valleys.
   The West Windsor-Plainsboro High South boys’ soccer team hopes its valley came with a recent three-game scoreless stretch, and that they’re heading back towards a peak.
   After opening the season 3-0-1, the Pirates suffered three straight 1-0 losses. A 3-2 loss to Montgomery followed, before South finally got back on track with a 2-0 win over Peddie. The Pirates followed that win up with an impressive 3-2 win over Princeton before handling Robbinsville, 9-1, on Friday.
   "We were having a lot of trouble scoring," said South senior co-captain Glenn Stuart, who is back in the lineup after missing several games with an ankle injury. "I think that was just a mental block. Peter Charette supposedly has had a curse for a couple years that he can’t score no matter where he is in front of the net, but I think he cleared that up today with two early goals (against Robbinsville)."
   South’s offense was clicking early in the season, scoring 13 goals in the first four games. But the Pirates followed that stretch with 1-0 losses to Hopewell Valley, Hightstown and Steinert. They’ve now responded with 16 goals in the last four games.
   "I would say the turning around point was the Montgomery game," Stuart said. "Even thought we lost, that was after our no scoring lull. We put in a couple. (David) Sidari had a nice goal and then Keisuke (Murata) followed up. I think that helped propel us into the Princeton game."
   The Princeton win was probably the best of the season for the Pirates, who will take a 6-4-1 record into today’s game against Lawrence. In the win over Princeton, Sascha Donougher had a goal and an assist in his debut game after becoming eligible following a move from Germany. He’s helped on the field, while another newcomer has helped off the field.
   "I think that the mood around campus changed," said Stuart, who broke his ankle over the summer and is just getting back into shape and playing well in the back. "We’re starting to get along a little better and we’re starting to take criticism better from each other. We added a personality, Ric (Verhees), he’s from Holland. He’s a good kid to have around. He’s an exchange student with Charette. He’s lightened things up a lot. Things will be tense on bus rides after some losses and he just lightens things up for us.
   "Sascha practices really well. He makes practices intense. And the stuff Mr. (Brian) Welsh is trying to do, he brings his A game pretty much every day. He’s intense in practice."
   Stuart is happy to be back on the field and a part of the Pirates’ recent success. He knows he’s not all the way back, but he also knows the team was in good hands while he was out of the lineup.
   "In the back we have a sophomore, Ryan Brand, and he was bumped up as soon as everybody found out I broke my ankle this summer," Stuart said. "We weren’t sure how he was going to deal with things. But I think he’s a much better player than me. He’s got a lot of potential. He’s bringing back the (Brian) Morgan years.
   "I played in the Steinert game for about 30 minutes, but my ankle started swelling. I was just able to get it down today. I think it was good that I was able to play today and get some confidence back and show Brand what I do bring to the team with vocalization. I think it was good for him to see."
   And now the Pirates seem to have things heading in the right direction. They topped Princeton in overtime when Donougher scored in overtime. Jon Scheer and Murata had scored second half goals as the Pirates erased a 1-0 Princeton lead.
   "Most of our losses were one goal and they were all fluky goals," Stuart said.
   In fact, all four Pirate losses have been by one goal. And now they hope those are a thing of the past.