Brick Township’s boys soccer team is off to a 3-1 start, but coach Ken Lynch isn’t about to get comfortable with three straight victories, playing games this week against Toms River East on Tuesday, Lacey on Wednesday and Brick Memorial on Saturday night in a 7 p.m. start at Veterans Memorial Field.
“There are a lot of expectations. The boys know and I know this can be a very big year,” said Lynch, whose team has outscored its opponents 8-1 since a 3-1 opening loss to Toms River North. “I expect us to be in every game, and they’re starting to know this as well.”
The players responded on Saturday when Kyle Morrill reached the back of the net with 3:30 left to tie it 1-1 against Toms River South and Jorge Rivera knocked in the game-winner with :23 left. Kriss Barr set up the game-winner when he flicked a header and Rivera beat a defender with the goalie coming out as he struck a high shot from 15 yards out just inside the near post. The drama continues this week.
“This is a big week for us. We’ll see what kind of team we are,” said Lynch.
And what makes it even more challenging is that the game at Toms River East and against Brick Memorial are on artificial surfaces. “We haven’t done well on turf in recent years,” said Lynch.
And they haven’t done well against Brick Memorial, with only one victory in the past eight games.
“We need to continue to do well defensively. We need to play the best defense we’ve played so far,” said Lynch.
That ends with goaltender Dan Wroblewski, who has two shutouts over Southern and Jackson Memorial last week by 3-0 scores.
“We’re finally moving the ball around like we should and could,” said Wroblewski. “Not many teams in A South have the ball movement that we do.”
Brick Memorial, meanwhile, ended three games of frustration, including a 3-2 overtime loss to Lacey, by pulling out a 1-0 victory over Jackson on Saturday when Krishna Nathu scored with two minutes left. Liam Tivanin assisted while Justin Vinton secured the shutout in goal with defensive help from Connor Brady at sweeper and Nick Diodoto and Brian Rushalski sharing playing time at stopper.
Brick Memorial also has a tough week, with games Tuesday against Toms River North and Thursday at Southern.
Both coaches thought playing on turf is more mental than physical.
“We’re just trying to get our confidence back,” said Brick Memorial coach Kevin Bliem. “I’m happy with our start this season, considering we’ve had some bad luck and gave up some goals pushing up late in the game when we were behind and then getting caught short [on the counter attack as in the 3-1 loss to Toms River East]. When we play them [Brick Township] they keep it on the ground like we do.”
“We both play a similar type of possession game,” said Brick Township coach Ken Lynch. “It’s mental, considering we’ve only beaten them once in four years, more than a physical outlook.”
“Playing on turf plays to our strength because we’re a skill team,” said Wroblewski.
As for himself, Wroblewski said, “I absolutely love playing on turf. It’s so much easier to read the ball and how fast the ball goes. You don’t have to worry about weird bounces.”
But Wroblewski said the game “is mental and physical because turf is a change in the surface and you have to play the game for it.”
While Brick Memorial continues to struggle with its finishing, Brick Township has had four different players score in its last three games. A.J. Kolesa scored two against Southern, and Dan Durnian had the other in the 3-0 victory. Rivera had two goals against Jackson Memorial and Durnian scored on a penalty kick in the 3-0 victory.
It’s a lot different from a few seasons ago, when Brick Township had trouble finding the back of the net on its shots.
The Sports Department can be reached at [email protected].