By David Gurney, Sports Writer
The 2008 South Brunswick High School boys soccer team will always have a third straight GMC Red Division championship, the No. 1 seed in the county tournament, and a No. 2 seed in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV tournament.
Nothing will ever take that away.
But what started as an incredible 11-0-2 season came crashing down with consecutive losses — a 2-1 setback to eventual Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament champion Monroe in the semifinals last week; and a 3-2 loss to 15th seeded Brick Memorial in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV tournament on Monday.
SBHS finished at 15-3-2, the program’s highest win total since 2002 when the Vikings went 15-5 and won Central Jersey Group IV.
But the sweet season ended on a more-than-sour note, as South Brunswick dropped three of its final seven games, including two in a row in the postseason.
”We played well, but we got outplayed a little bit,” head coach Chris Hayston said. “(Brick) wanted it more than us a little bit. We had opportunities. They just didn’t go our way.”
South fell behind 1-0 early in the second half and evened it up on a rebound goal by Pat Harkness. The junior took advantage of a loose ball in front off midfielder Kazuki Yamada’s shot on net.
Brick answered with two goals in the second half (63rd and 70th minutes), the latter a breakaway goal with the Vikings pushing most of their members up.
Evan Beck cut the deficit to one late in the game on a shot deflected off a defender. Yet, time ran out on the Vikings and their comeback attempt, ending the season in disappointing fashion.
Goalie Kevin Gramata turned away 11 shots in the loss.
”No question, this was a very big disappointment in my mind,” Hayston said. “We have a lot to be proud of this year. We did some good things. The way we ended the year was very disappointing, not what we wanted.
”It was one of those games, Brick did some good things. We could have played better, but we just couldn’t make the big plays when we had to.”
The game was the last for the team’s 12 seniors, nine of whom were starters or logged major minutes.
During senior midfielder Sean Tyree’s four-year stint as a varsity member, the squad compiled a cumulative record of 52-23-4. They will be a very tough class to replace, in Hayston’s eyes.
”The seniors have done a lot for this program,” he said. “To win three Red Division championships in a row is a big accomplishment. They were a nice group to work with and they played hard over the last few years.
”This year’s finish was disappointing, but very few teams end the season on a win. It is the way it is. We have some good young players coming up and the program will move on.”

