South River boys capture sectional soccer crown

By JIMMY ALLINDER
Correspondent

There’s something about the state tournament that transforms a good South River High School boys’ soccer team into a great one.

This year, the Rams, 10-8-1 and the fifth seed heading into the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group I tournament, stormed through the bracket winning three games — two against higher-seeded teams — and defeated Metuchen High School, 2-0, in the finals. South River, now 14-8-1, also captured the sectional title in 2008 and 2010.

The Rams moved on to the Group I semifinals Nov. 17 at Haddonfield High School when they meet Arthur P. Schalick High School of Pittsgrove , which is 21-1. If victorious, the Rams face the winner of the David Brearley High School vs. Waldwick High School game Nov. 22 at Kean University.

Regardless of the outcome, this has turned into another special, if unexpected, season for the Rams. Asked for a reason why his team apparently turned on the power switch in the state tournament, head coach Eric Clays said “lots of things, but mainly developing the right chemistry.”

Clays said much of the regular season was spent putting players in different positions with an eye toward fielding the strongest unit once the postseason began. The strategy worked, as the Rams knocked off 12th-seeded South Hunterdon High School, 5-2 in the first round, fourth-seeded Florence Township Memorial High School, 3-0, in the quarterfinals and topseeded Shore Regional High School, 2-1, in the semifinals, before defeating Metuchen for the title. During the regular season, the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Blue Division foes split a pair of games.

“As the season progressed, it was apparent that we were overmatched in some games and that if we didn’t make changes, we’d be eliminated in the first round [of the state tournament],” Clays said. “We did that, and the kids also changed their attitude. We believed we could win.”

An important move was to change the makeup of the defensive line, which resulted in South River limiting the four teams it played in the sectional tournament to three total goals.

Offensively, the Rams’ scoring punch came primarily from three players: Jonathan Franco (20 goals, nine assists), Nark Miranda Jr. (14 goals, 14 assists), and Ian Sawicki (eight goals, four assists). Goaltender Eric Lucas has 165 saves on the season.

In other state tournament soccer action, the fourth-seeded Monroe Township High School boys (17-5-1) advanced to the Central Jersey, Group IV final but were defeated by seventhseeded Freehold Township High School, 3-2.