St. Benedict's Prep Soccer Team Gets Top Honors

Months before the start of the season, St. Benedict's Prep head coach Jim Wandling preached a message of sacrifice for the greater good of the team to his supremely talented squad.

Twenty-four wins later, those sacrifices have continued to pay off for the Gray Bees. The long list of accolades continues for the Newark school Tuesday in a ceremony where St. Benedict's was honored by ESPN as the No. 1 team in the Powerade Fab 50 High School Team Rankings. It marked the seventh time the Gray Bees soccer team has been declared national champions in the past 22 years.

"It's a special feeling," said senior captain John Martinez. "It's good to finish No. 1, to work so hard for something so important, that we've been working on since the wintertime."

Wandling, who has won national championships with St. Benedict's Prep as a player, assistant coach and head coach, wouldn't rank the 2011 edition of the Gray Bees to the title teams of the past.

"We had some very talented players this year that really needed to make different types of sacrifices for us to put it all together," said Wandling, a second-year head coach. "They did that and, as a result, they put together what is going to be considered one of – if not the best – high school soccer teams that has ever played the game in the modern era."

ESPN high school soccer expert Sheldon Shealer called St. Benedict's midfield and defense this year "superior" than any other high school team in the country. Shelaer has been covering high school boys soccer since 1997.

"Cristhian Hernandez and the midfield just controlled everything. Their defense just never gave up shots, let alone goals. And if you could get past the defense you had to deal with (goalie) Thomas Bull," said Shealer. "It was an uphill battle just to get a shot on goal and that's the mark of a true team is that they dominated in every aspect."

The Gray Bees (24-0) out-scored their opponents by a staggering 135-6 margin. They won their 23rd-straight state championship on Nov. 6 when they defeated Pennington 4-1 for the New Jersey Prep A title.

For those accomplishments, Shealer presented St. Benedict's with the championship trophy for finishing No. 1. Each member of the team also received a medal recognizing the accomplishment.

"In the beginning from the preseason we worked so hard and then on the field (Coach Wandling) always pushed us to work hard and be successful," senior forward Christiano Francois said. "We worked so hard together."

St. Benedict's boys soccer has also won the national championship in 1990, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005 and 2006. Such a history creates near-impossible expectations, but the Gray Bees were able to thrive under that pressure and every other challenge they faced this season.

"There's a huge amount of pressure that goes with playing at St. Benedict's," Wandling said. "But it's pressure that we welcome because it's an indication that what we're doing is working and we continue to deliver special opportunities for these kids."