As the hot dog days of August came to an end, it marked the start of practice for the boys Minutemen Soccer team. The start to the season had a different feel then the previous two seasons, as the many familiar faces such as Derek Mackinnon, Lou Vilotti, and Ed McCusker that have led the team the past two years, had moved on to college and were no longer around to lead the team. For the first time in a couple years, the Minutemen were unsure of the talent on this year’s team, and nobody was picking them to be even close to as good as they were last year.
After losing almost all of their preliminary goal scorers from last year, it was clear the team would not be the offensive power house they had been in previous years. Also, two year varsity starting goalie Travis Yates, suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder while playing on his club team this summer, preventing him from starting in goalie for the Minutemen this year. Although he was unable to play goalie, Yates anchored a starting position in the field as striker, and left the goal tending duties to fellow Senior Matt Tini, who played goalie for JV last year. Starting off the season, the Minutemen tied in two scrimmages, and also tied in their first game of the season. It looked as though everyone was right about this year’s team, and the team didn’t look nearly as good as the team that won the State Championship last year.
“At the start of the season we didn’t really know what kind of team we had, we lost a lot of our top goal scorers from last year, and we knew it wouldn’t be easy to fill in their shoes.” said striker Neil Doshi ’16.
But, after the slow start, the Minutemen began to gel as a unit, and ran off an impressive string of wins, defeating top teams in the conference such as Cherokee and Eastern.
“Once we got into the season we began to start to play good as a team, no one cared about individual stats, it was all about doing what was best for the team” said striker Brent Keeley ’16.
The Minutemen ran off 21 straight wins, and their only loss of the regular season came in the coaches cup to Rancocas valley. Going into playoffs as a number one seed, the Minutemen were able to play on their home field for most of playoffs, which the team views as a huge advantage.
“Playing on our home field is a huge advantage, we’re used to playing on it, and the fans always come out to show us support and help us put everything we have into the game, even if we don’t think we have anything left in the tank” said Midfielder Colin Yeiter “16.
The team defeated Cherry Hill East and Egg Harbor to open the playoffs, shutting out both teams and looking like a dominant team. But, after what many viewed as two easy games to start out, the Minutemen faced their first real test, playing the Rancocas team that defeated them in the coaches cup. In a hard fought game, the Minutemen were able to out duel the Rancocas team, and avenge their only loss of the season with a final score of 2-1.
“Getting another shot at Rancocas was huge for us, we wanted that game more than any other game up to that point in the season, and beating them gave us a huge confidence boost and sent us into the Eastern game with our confidence sky high” said Yeiter ’16.
This set up the Minutemen for a tough match up against the always talented Eastern team in the South Jersey finals. The minutemen once again played great defense, and had timely scoring from seniors Marc Murgo and Michael Roscioli. Senior goalkeeper Matt Tini also had a great game in net, and the boys shut out Eastern en route to their second straight south Jersey title.
The team was playing well, and almost no one expected them to make it out of South Jersey.
“To start the season no one thought we would be anywhere near as good as last season, but after getting used to playing with each other we began to get momentum and we were on a roll, and we carried this momentum right into playoffs and just kept winning” said Doshi.
This Minutemen team is full of fight and confidence, and after dominating all of South Jersey, they were matched up in what would be their hardest game of the year against the very talented team from Freehold Township. The winner of this game would move on to States, and for the first time in almost two years, the Minutemen were the underdogs in a game.
“Even though we were the underdogs we knew we could win, we were playing some of the best soccer we’ve played all year, and we were confident that if we played our style we could beat anyone” said Keeley ’16.
With the scored tied at one with 20 minutes left in the second half, senior star Ryan Logar received the ball at the Minutemen 40 yard line, and ran through the whole freehold defense and ripped a rocket to the top right corner from 30 yards out. The shot flew through the air and right passed the out stretched arms of the stunned goalkeeper. This goal was nominated for one of the top goals of the year, and gave the Minutemen the momentum they needed to hold off a last minute flurry of shots as Freehold desperately tried to tie the game. Once again, the Minutemen proved that they could play dominating defense and muster up enough scoring to win games, as they proved everyone wrong and advanced to the State Final game.;
In the State final game, the Minutemen will face off with the North Jersey power house, West Orange Township. West Orange has a very impressive 21-1 record coming into the game, and have outshot their opponents 261-78 on the season, netting 73 goals. They have also only allowed goals in seven of their 22 games on the season. With one of the best offenses and defenses in the State, this will be no walk in the park for the Minutemen. But, the Minutemen are confident in their abilities as a unit, and feel as though they can play with any team. The game will be held at Kean University on Sunday at 2:00 pm, and the Minutemen will try to make history and win back to back state championships for the first time in school history.