Team expects to win games this year
by John Beisser, Sports Writer
In speaking with Manville High boys’ varsity soccer coach Tim Moore, it is apparent the 2008 Mustangs possessive a cohesiveness and chemistry that was missing in last year’s team.
Manville endured a difficult winless season in 2007 but Moore is confident this year’s bunch is capable of much more. The Mustangs turn to a trio of senior tri-captains for leadership in midfielders Dawid Brozyna and Pawel Maziarz along with goalkeeper Matt Zangara.
”This is team is very close and they’re all on the same page and a lot of that stems from our captains,” Moore said. “All of the guys get along very well and they really take their lead from the captains. Dave and Pawel have great senses of humor and they know how to keep things pretty light when it needs to be but that they can also pump the guys up when we need to be more aggressive. Dawid, he’s a great teacher as well. I think he should be a coach one day. He’d be a good one.
”And Matt, he’s just a vocal, fiery competitor back there in goal,” Moore added. “I think he and Doug Bradley, our sweeper, will communicate very well and really stabilize our defense. As a sophomore, (Zangara) won the team’s Most Improved Player Award after coming up to the varsity midway through the year. And last year, he really learned the position. Now, as a senior, I think he’s ready to have a very good season.”
From and X’s and O’s standpoint last season, the one obvious void was a consistent offense. While the Mustangs played sound defense for the most part which kept them in a lot of games, the lack of scoring punch proved to be an insurmountable challenge. Not so this year, Moore predicts.
”We’re a lot faster up front than a year ago,” he said. “Our forwards, Nick Desantis, Jason Diaz and Juan Calderon, can all really run. Plus, I like what I’ve seen from our midfield during practices. Dawid (Brozyna) and Pawel (Maziarz) have been sending up a lot of nice through balls and giving the forwards a chance to score. Bryan Munoz will also be a midfielder for us. I’m not sure who the other midfielder will be, it depends on how we want to go, with more offense or defense there.”
The Mustangs appear to be capable on the defensive end with Bradley, Richie Hernandez and Danny Castro leading the way.
”I’m looking for Danny and Richie to get forward and score some goals for us this year,” Moore said. “In practice, Danny has taken the ball and just dribbled the ball through everybody, from his own 18-yard line, the other 18-yard line, untouched.”
Moore believes his team’s lack of offensive spark wasn’t as much a case of lack of talent as it was lack of drive.
”Our guys last year, they seemed more content to kick the ball out of our side and then get back and play defense. This year, our guys really want to score. It’s a totally different mind-set. The best way to put it is, we have a lot more offensive aggression within the team this year,” he said.
It all begins for real on Friday night at home, under the lights at 7:00 p.m. And what better way to ring in a new season than to face your arch rival, Bound Brook, on opening night.
”Yep, we get our rivals in the opener and I know our guys are pumped up,” Moore said.

