The East Brunswick High School boys soccer team must have thought it was on a roller coaster ride at the amusement park last year.
The season was filled with that many twists and turns. After the Bears won a string of games, they’d fall into a funk, losing matches. Then the winning streak would resume, only to be curtailed by more defeats.
Coach Terry McKibbin is hoping the Bears experience a smoother ride this fall — like to the top of the heap in the GMC.
So far in this early season, East Brunswick’s course is mostly pointed up. The Bears are currently 4-1 with four consecutive shutouts, including Monday’s 3-0 victory over Woodbridge, which puts them in first place in the GMC Red Division.
“We have a very balanced lineup and we expect a number of players to score for us. That’s been the case so far,” said McKibbin. “The exception is Josh Alvarez, who has scored seven goals in the early going. He’s been our scoring leader.”
East Brunswick, as it usually has, travels outside the GMC to play perennial state powers. This year, the Bears opened against Westfield but lost in a tightly contested match. However, in the next four matches, East Brunswick has rebounded with shutout victories against Red Division foes, Edison (7-0), South Brunswick (2-0), and Piscataway (2-0) and Woodbridge.
Not to be outdone by Alvarez’s scoring is netminder Ed McDonald (senior), who has been nothing short of spectacular in goal with his string of shutouts. He has more than adequately replaced the departed Zach Stahl, who was one of the best goalies in the state.
As McKibbin emphasized, the Bears are going to be a threat to score from all points on the field with any number of players capable of converting. As a team with a predominant midfield attack, much of the power comes from the center of the lineup. This includes veterans Jake Weinreb (junior) and seniors Chris Ramirez, Eddie Simoes and Mike Zinberg.
Other midfielders in the lineup are Zain Nandedwalla and Alex Segura (juniors), and sophomores Nigel Joseph and Sameh Mahrous.
The four forwards on the roster are Alvarez, Bishoy Garis (senior), Robert Bierman
(junior) and Alex Berstawros (sophomore).
Defensively, East Brunswick is strong and experienced. The seniors consist of Steven Fawzy, Larry Nicosia and Michael Pavelchak, while juniors Brandon Yu, Livio Scire-Cirneco and
Joseph Carrieri-Russo see plenty of action. Richard Kehoe is a freshman, who has also made the varsity roster.
Besides McDonald, East Brunswick can call on senior Dan Moskovich and sophomores Grant Korten and Emilio Rodriguez.
East Brunswick will continue with its GMC schedule, playing teams exclusively in the conference until an invitational tournament at Monroe in October and another game at Westfield tentatively scheduled as the last game of the regular season (Oct. 26).