Dan Keane said he anticipated another rebuilding season for Christian Brothers Academy’s (CBA) soccer team, but this one would be different from other seasons in which he had to restock lineups over his 37 years as head coach.
Only five players graduated from last fall’s team that went 13-5-2 and ended its season in a 1-0 loss in the NJSIAA Non- Public South A semifinals to Pingry School, most notably defender Jackson Irwin and midfielder John Luca DiUbaldi.
However, the academy soccer programs could pull away some CBA players, mostly from last season’s well-tooled sophomore class. CBA players may be given the ultimatum of devoting all of their time to those programs during the fall. Keane said he’s had “one or two players for a game or two over the years” who play in showcases for programs like Players Development Academy or Red Bulls, but he fears that they “have no choice” about where to play soccer if they want to enhance their chances for a college scholarship.
“We could lose four to six players expected back this year. I expect at least four of them to be gone,” Keane said. “In the past, they can play high school soccer as long as they met the obligations of the travel season.” Keane said he wouldn’t know for sure until practice began on Aug. 20 what lies ahead for him and longtime assistants Jeff Matson, junior varsity coach Tom Mulligan and freshman coach Rory Fitzgerald.
“That’s one thing at CBA that’s been good — we still have consistent coaching,” Keane said. “We give them the summer off, both for the players and the coaches, so we don’t know right now what will happen until we get out on the field.
“We expected a promising year,” he added. “This is going to change our outlook. If we had everybody back, we figured we’d be very good. Our attitude is we’ll work around it.”
CBA still has a solid nucleus that includes returning senior starters Russ Romano, an All-Shore player whose speed set him up for one-on-one opportunities that led to 15 goals and six assists; goalkeeper David Krall, who shut out eight teams last season; and fullbacks Jim Cavanaugh and Rich Leister. The nucleus also includes junior John Frycz, who scored four goals as a spot starter last season, and defender/midfielder Tom Lozowski. All are highly talented, but none are involved with academy programs. Romano, Krall and Cavanaugh are tri-captains for the upcoming season.
Keane said he “expects great things” this season for Romano and Krall, who is backed up by senior Brooks Grimes.
Keane said academy programs are “demanding” of players’ commitment, and it’s not limited just to his school or to private schools.
“It is growing. It’s becoming more of a problem for high school coaches,” Keane said. “I was talking to [coach] Rich Yuro of Howell at a game we played against them last year, and he was talking about how he lost four players to academy programs. Howell has been a tough program over the years, but they were going through a mediocre year with that.”
As recently as 2011, when CBA put together its greatest season at 21-0 with an overtime victory over Delbarton for the Non- Public A state championship (its fifth state title), Keane said he had starters who were on elite teams but played at CBA through the season. Five recent CBA graduates have moved on to NCAA Division I college teams. Currently, Dan Pizzimenti is a defender at Monmouth University, Scott Thomsen is a midfielder at the University of Virginia, Chris Thorsheim is a midfielder at Bucknell University and Alex Lazzaro is a defender at Fordham University. All are juniors. Tim West, a senior, was a forward at Monmouth.
“If what is happening today took place back then, and they had to make the choice and went with travel, that season would have been far different,” said Keane, who won his 500th game last season and has a 512-148-38 career record. “They’ve said, ‘I love the opportunity to play high school soccer.’ It’s a unique opportunity to play for their high school team, to have pride in the school where they are taking their classes.”
“If you’re going to play at a place like CBA, you would want to be playing with your high school team,” West said. “At a place like CBA, you get exposure for college teams. But if you’re a college-caliber player at a lower-level program, there’s no reason to play high school. You’re better off doing just the club program.”
West is forgoing his senior season at Monmouth to concentrate on his position as chief sales officer for an upstart online company called AlternaScript, which sells healthy alternatives to prescription drugs. He still fondly remembers his experience at CBA.
“If I could’ve done it all over again, I would’ve still played at CBA,” West said. “It’s what’s important to you, the sense of pride you feel as the captain of your team at CBA.”
Great programs in the past had players involved with national development programs, but they were still able to play through the season. Through the 1980s, St. Benedict’s Preparatory School had players from around the country on its roster who still met their varsity commitment.
“Today, they wouldn’t be around [on that team],” Keane said.
Kearny High School had two future United States World Cup players on its roster in goalie Tony Meola and midfielder John Harkes, the American team’s captain emeritus. Both played throughout their varsity seasons. In fact, Meola came out of goal and played in the field at times at forward, scoring some goals. Both played college soccer at Virginia.
“There’s definitely no question that those teams that had players on elite teams probably would not be playing high school soccer [if they were playing] today,” Keane said.