By: David Gurney
The Monroe Township High School boys varsity team seems to be peaking at the right time.
Tough luck for the rest of the White Division and Greater Middlesex Conference.
With county seedings a little less than a week away and a brutal stretch with area top 10 teams North Brunswick, South Brunswick and J.P. Stevens on the horizon, the Falcons took care of business this past week in impressive fashion.
With a non-conference victory over state-power Bridgewater-Raritan, 4-2, and White Division wins over New Brunswick, Colonia and Woodbridge, Monroe has improved to 13-2 on the season and 11-2 record in the White.
The latter of which was a 5-2 pounding of Woodbridge under the lights at Woodbridge High School.
But it might as well have been called the Ivan Barretto Show.
After senior Frank Carr’s goal 10 minutes into the game off a throw-in by defender Mike Buffolino gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead, the junior forward Barretto simply took over, scoring Monroe’s final four goals.
The game didn’t start off too peachy for Barretto, who hit the post early in the first half and had another shot blocked by the goalie only yards away from the net.
But a long ball by sweeper Zach Theinert was flicked by midfielder Spencer Lawrence to a streaking Carr on the right sideline. Carr’s cross through the box was knocked in by Barretto to give Woodbridge the early 2-0 edge, and relieve a scoring burden off the shoulders of a pressing Barretto.
"I was pressing a lot heading into this game," Barretto said. "Once I got the goal my confidence got up again. The first five games I had seven goals then I didn’t score in the next eight, so the last two games have been big for me and the team."
Barretto, unmarked on a corner kick by Theinert at the end of the first half made the halftime score 3-0, but a change in sides wasn’t going to derail the Monroe offense.
Following a Woodbridge penalty kick by Evan Fernandez that cut into the Falcons lead, Barretto took a counter untouched down the right sideline before sliding it by a drawn-out goalie for the hat trick.
Seven minutes later, it was Barretto off a through-ball from Sean Lawrence.
For McKenzie, Barretto’s play against Woodbridge and recently (six goals the last two games) was representative of the way the team has played, how things seem to be coming together at just the right time.
"We’re playing with a little more energy, we’re playing hard for the whole 80 minutes now," McKenzie said. "Ivan went through a little drought, but kept working despite being unlucky and it paid off. Ivan and Frank Carr are both great finishers and we seem to be in really good shape."
This coming off a 4-2 thumping of Group IV Bridgewater-Raritan which saw the Falcons have the better of play throughout the entire contest.
Barretto led the way with a pair of goals and an assist, while Spencer Lawrence added a goal and assist. Theinert tacked on a goal as well and goalie Mike Rettberg registered eight saves in the win.
"The Bridgewater game was probably our best game and it can be a lead-in into what we’re capable of doing," McKenzie said. "We could have went the other way and relied on that game, but that game, along with Woodbridge, hopefully are indicators that we’re pushing well into tournament time."
Timing is everything and Monroe has timed its recent run perfectly.
Thursday’s showdown against North Brunswick for the White Division crown couldn’t have come at a better time.
"The guys are excited for the North Brunswick game, they know it means a lot," McKenzie said prior to the game. "If we can beat North and South Brunswick (Saturday), we’ll probably be the number one seed in the GMC’s.
"If we take care of our business, we should be in good shape."

