Local boys’ soccer teams prep for year

By Sean Moylan, Sports Writer
   Last year the Northern Burlington County Regional High boys’ varsity soccer team shocked nearly everyone by beating a few powerhouses and making the state tournament despite playing one of the toughest schedules in the state.
   The only people the Greyhounds didn’t shock was themselves and head coach Tim Tedesco, who believed in them from the very beginning. And remarkably, all but two starters are back from last year’s great unit.
   "We should be strongest at defense because everyone who started there last year is back," noted Tedesco.
   Seniors Joe Larkins and Dan Ongaro will lead that defensive group. Ongaro, for one, is a special player.
   "He’s (Ongaro) like having another coach on the field. He’s a good leader and he sees the field real well," said Tedesco. "Joe Larkins has good speed and he’s a good, solid all-around player."
   High-scoring forward Brandon Comisky is another standout returning senior.
   "Comisky is always at the right place at the right time," added Tedesco, who is entering his eighth season as NBC’s varsity head coach.
   Steve Fenstermacher, a junior goalie, is one of NBC’s more experienced players. He’s also very solid in the net. Matt Glodack is a returning varsity center-midfielder with a very strong upside.
   "Matt Glodack has improved his game ten-fold. He’s strong on the ball with a good sense of the field and what he wants to do," Tedesco added.
   Junior Brandon Korneluk is a highly skilled returning midfielder/forward, who is a very accurate shooter. Also returning from last year’s varsity squad are Danny Busz (senior midfielder), Bryant Castens (senior defender), Matt Csontos (senior midfielder), R.J. Kirk (senior forward), Adam Rotsides (senior defender) and Wade Veselka (senior defender).
   Wes Miller (senior midfielder), Saidu Mustapha (senior forward), Dave Specca (senior defender), Pat Tobin (senior goalie), Ryan Ramirez (sophomore midfielder), Kam Singh (sophomore midfielder), Erik Snyder (sophomore midfielder) and Ryan Walsh (freshman midfielder) all made the varsity team this season.
   Former Greyhounds superstar Rob McMullen will be one of Tedesco’s assistants this season.
   "It’s great having him back," said Tedesco, who coached McMullen. "It’s great because the kids know him from his younger brother Chris who just got done playing."
   Mike Shtino and Scott Cooney are Tedesco’s other assistants while April Jankowitz is a team manager.
   "With the graduation of only five seniors from last year’s team, this could be one of our most successful seasons in recent time. We are hoping last season’s playing experience pays off with a deep playoff run," said Tedesco, whose team made the playoffs for the second year in a row last season.
   Tedesco sees Rancocas Valley and Moorestown as the teams to beat, but he expects his team to be right there with them. NBC is scheduled to open its regular season at Moorestown on September 7th.
FLORENCE
   In the past, Florence High boys’ varsity soccer head coach Mike Flynn always built his teams from the back to the front and that strategy usually worked for him until last season.
   "Last year at moments we played very well. But we didn’t score. Hopefully this year we’ll have a lot of speed up top and take some of the pressure off our midfielders and defenders," said Flynn, whose Flashes failed to qualify for the state tournament for the first in his eight-year coaching career last season. Florence, however, was very competitive and ended the 2006 campaign with a 7-9 record.
   "This year I’m hoping that the midfielders and forwards can jell together," said Flynn who is looking for big seasons from senior forwards D.J. Pittenger and Justin Stone. "D.J and Justin both have a lot of speed."
   Joe Laureti (sweeper and captain), Cory Haluska (a senior defender), Stephen Worstall (defender), Kenan Kurt (defender), Kyle Bain (midfielder) and John Bartosh (goalie) will also bring their senior leadership to the Flashes varsity unit this season.
   Florence’s juniors are Milo Milosovici (midfielder), Greg Gonzales (stopper) and Nick Bencze (midfielder). Defender Chris Green and midfielder Doug Shelen are the two 10th graders who made Florence’s varsity roster this season. Flynn is currently not carrying any freshmen on the varsity roster.
   "Our goal is to make states and be competitive in the Freedom," said Flynn, who will be assisted by Ovi Dragos once again. It’s one of the best coaching combos in Burlington County.
   Florence may add a player or two to the varsity roster before the season starts. And just because the Flashes will be looking to score more don’t expect their defense to suffer any. It will still be good.
   Originally, Florence had hoped to play its varsity games at its new field. Unfortunately, that field will not be ready until next season so the Flashes will be back at Bud Marter Field this year. Because the Flashes are used to the small size of Bud Marter Field they should have a huge home field advantage there. However, they now have the speed to play well on much larger fields too.
   Florence is scheduled to open its regular season with a home game versus Trenton Catholic Academy on September 7th.
LAC
   Many people know Life Center Academy as a high school which recruits many of its student-athletes from outside of the United States.
   And that is certainly true of the Warriors’ boys’ varsity basketball team — although in recent years they’ve gotten many of their players from the tri-state area. However, LCA boys’ varsity soccer head coach Art Steffen usually draws most of his players (in baseball and soccer) from the local area. Still Steffen has been able to amass six Penn-Jersey soccer championships and over 100 high school soccer victories. The truth is he’s just a very good soccer coach who always gets the most out of his players.
   "For the most part, it’s like our baseball team. Every year I start from scratch and take it from there," said Steffen, who will be working with a lot of new soccer players, a few of whom are seniors, this fall.
   Although the Warriors were relatively young last year, Steffen did guide them back into the playoffs. This year LCA should have enough firepower to make the playoffs again. Especially with senior stars Timmy Steffen and Andrew Speight leading the way.
   "He got bigger and he can play sweeper, center-half back or center forward," said Steffen of his youngest son Timmy. Steffen has already become well-known for his big heart on the field and his famous slide tackles.
   "In any given game he’s got at least a dozen of them (slide tackles)," said Steffen, who likes to use Timmy on defense as much as possible. Speight may be just as valuable, however, because he gives Life Center Academy an experienced varsity player at a key position.
   While Steffen expects more kids to come out for the team once school starts the rest of his current varsity roster is as follows: Joe Sweet (senior goalie), Chris Ware (sophomore defender/midfielder), Justin Rodriguez (sophomore defender), Phil Anastase (sophomore defender), Kyle Marrero (sophomore forward), Ace Rivera (sophomore forward), Tommy Kurtz (junior midfielder), Kevin Bailey (senior forward), Austin Spadro (junior defender), Kyle Kington (junior defender), Ji Jong (senior defender), Anthony Clayborn (junior defender/midfielder) and Andrew Pilalides (midfielder).
   "We always seem to field a boys’ varsity soccer team," said Steffen, who will probably have his Warriors back in the Penn-Jersey playoffs this year as well.