Two very successful boys soccer programs — Manalapan High School and Freehold Township High School — added to their acclaimed history in 2014.
John Natoli’s Braves went 16-4-3 while winning the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV title and the Shore Conference A North Division co-championship. The Braves defeated Monroe Township High School, 2-1, in the sectional finals.
Todd Briggs’ Patriots captured the Shore Conference Tournament (SCT) crown, upending Wall High School in the finals, 2-1. The Patriots went 14-6-2 for the season.
Both programs have also produced Division I players.
MANALAPAN
Manalapan’s defense of its 2014 championships centers around its six returning starters.
Mitch Volis (midfield), Mike McNicholas (defense), Rocky Garretson (midfield), Joseph Ahn (midfield), Ayush Mittal (midfield) and Mike Schindler (defense) bring Manalapan a lot of playing time. Garretson, a junior, is the only non-senior in the group.
“This team will rely heavily on the experience of the six returning starters and hope some returning letter-winners or newcomers step up and fill some very important roles,” Natoli said. “The team needs to play good defense and find ways to put the ball in the net.”
Manalapan’s biggest challenge is replacing the 30-plus goals scored by last year’s senior class, Natoli said.
Among the other returnees from last year looking to play a more important role are Daniel Natoli (defense), Pio Lamoriello- Schiano (forward), Tiago Reyes (midfield), Kenan Kizar (midfield), Tom Colen (defense), Andrew Kaplan (defense) and Dylan Williams (defense).
The newcomers who could contribute this year include Conor O’Neill (defense), Mitchell Frishberg (midfield), Andrew Comito (forward), Ricky Baptista (midfield), Guarav Singh (forward), Cam Saunders (midfield), Ethan Shalom (goalie), Joe Maccariello (midfield), Ryan Cadotte (goalie), Matt DiLorenzo (goalie) and Josh Koenig (goalie).
Look for Manalapan’s defense to carry the team early as the Braves look to see who will step up on the offensive end.
Natoli, who is in his 24th year at the helm with the Braves, begins the season with 288 career wins. He could reach, and even surpass, 300 sometime next month.
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP
Last year’s SCT championship could just be the beginning of something more for the Patriots. Briggs has 14 seniors and six juniors returning to a veteran, experienced team that has proved it can win big games.
“I anticipate the team will be very competitive at the highest levels of division, conference and state tournament play,” said Briggs, whose club beat Manalapan in the SCT semifinals.
The Patriots’ seniors are Mark Fasano, Jake Kennis, Mike Maltese, Adam Killeen, Anthony Orrico, Nick Facendo, Chris Anello, Ryan Morrison, Chris Cardace, Kyle Finn, Chris Hoskins, Hadi Raoofi, Mike Christina and Jake Konig.
The juniors are Andrew DiBella, Kyle Trainor, Sean O’Donnell, Anthony Badalov, Kris Kulick and Adrian Barajas.
Maltese and Barajas had assists in the SCT finals against Wall.
Freehold Township will have to find an answer to graduation of goalie Brian Shushkovsky, who registered 11 shutouts in the 16 games he played. Christina and Konig are competing for the starting spot in goal.
Briggs pointed out that in addition to their experience, the Patriots have size, speed, great conditioning and overall athleticism.
Look for the Patriots to be contenders for every championship they compete for this fall.
MARLBORO
Last year was a comeback year for Dave Santos’ Marlboro High School team. It made the conference and state sectional tournaments and had its best season (10-9- 1) since winning the conference tournament in 2009.
Marlboro looks to its large junior class to keep things going. The Mustangs could have as many as eight juniors starting this year. They have six starters returning.
“[We] return a very solid group and most of our defense,” Santos said.
What the Mustangs don’t have are the 30 combined goals scored by graduated Bryan DaSilva (20) and Bent Metzger (10). They will be tough to replace, Santos noted.
Marlboro’s defense is anchored by threeyear starter Jacob Bordman, who is one of just two starting seniors. Dan McGrath and Ryan Larocca, both juniors, started alongside him last year.
Justin Goldstein completes the defensive backfield, and James Weinberg is the keeper. Both are newcomers.
The Mustangs are also very experienced at midfielder with returning starters Josh Grun, Steven Karp, P.J. Ringel and Noah Moorstein.
Up top, the Mustangs have newcomers Brian Dates and Varazdat Topuzyan.
Other returnees who saw action last year are Conor Leahy, Matt Bongiorno, Michael DeCarlo, Joey Stapleton, Andrew Toron and Matt Howard.
Newcomers are Jayson Green, Ilan Galitsky, William Chiusano, Jacob Grine, Philip Kordunov, Jared Markowitz, Jacob Edri, Zachary Scarpa and Jaden Strumeier.
FREEHOLD
Not much was expected of Freehold High School last fall when the Colonials moved up to the conference’s most difficult division, A North. But the Colonials proved to be more competitive than expected, and head coach Anthony Sessa was named the division’s Coach of the Year.
“We have eight players returning this year that started at some point throughout the season last year,” Sessa said. “Combining that with a group of very talented newcomers, I feel we will be prepared to compete in what always proves to be a challenging division.”
Among the returnees are three-year starting goalie Jesus Lopez and junior forward Andy Rizo, who scored 10 goals in 2014.
The other veterans returning are seniors William Lee, Jose Silva, Matt Schertzer and Ethan Kudler and juniors Isaiah Ladouceur and Tommy Boyle.
Key newcomers include Joey Stabile, Nestor Romero, Alex Trajkoski, Jared Avila, Jake Bower and Saif Elsiedy.
COLTS NECK
Art Collier’s Colts Neck High School team competes in the B North Division. The Cougars were a state playoff team last year.
Collier pointed out that graduation took a heavy toll on the Cougars, who lost their entire starting defense.
Keeper Tice Smit and midfielders Logan Thompson and Robert Berdel are the Cougars’ lone returning starters.
Players who saw action last year and are back are Noah Baker (goalie), Owen Keusch (defense), Ryan Thompkins (defense), Michael Martinho (forward), Chris Greco (forward) and Dean Raynor (defense).
Colts Neck’s newcomers include Zach Ferchak (forward); Connor Sager (midfield); Zach Strzalowski (defense); Jason Visco (defense); Christian Saavedra (midfield), a transfer from Santiago, Chile; Amro Dewedar (midfield), a transfer from Cairo, Egypt; Jake Moore (forward), Geoff Bartner (defense), Pamer Demick (midfield), Rafat Mowla (defense) and Brian Chehanske (defense).
The Cougars look to a number of juniors and sophomores this year as they try to return to the postseason tournaments.