Raiders, Griffins Eye Divisional Soccer Titles

When Toms River East senior Alex Stergiou scored the golden goal one minute into overtime Monday night to help his Raiders beat Toms River South in a 3-2 overtime thriller, he also helped the Raider buck the trend of Toms River South coming back on its opponents late in games.

Now that that part of the equation is out of the way, Toms River East will now try to avoid setting a different trend – letting a division lead slip away.

After playing each Shore Conference Class A South division opponent once last year, Toms River East held a lead in the division race, only to see Toms River South surge ahead for its first division championship since 1973. Monday’s win over South improved the Raiders to 6-0-1 over and 5-0 in Class A South, a full game ahead of the Indians and two ahead of Southern Regional and Toms River North.

“We have 11 seniors on the team and that’s the most we’ve had since we’ve all been on the varsity team,” said Stergiou, who was a freshman in the program when the 2008 team and its 13 seniors reached the NJSIAA South Jersey IV final against then-nationally ranked Rancocas Valley and lost 1-0 on a last-minute goal. “We feel like we’re all clicking a lot better than last year and we have the confidence to win these big games that we didn’t have as much the last two years.”

Toms River East has been a more dangerous scoring team this year, averaging better than three goals per game (24 in seven matches) after averaging fewer than two per game (34 goals in 18 games) last year. According to Stergiou, the key has been depth at the forward position, a sentiment echoed by senior forward and leading scoring Tom Kosenski.

“We only had three forwards who played last year and I can remember coming off the field feeling totally gassed,” said Kosenski, who has a team-high five goals this year. “It makes a big difference having so many guys who can play up top because no matter who’s in there, we know he’s going to be fresh. We can either put in whoever’s got the freshest legs and if one of us gets hot, we’ll just ride that guy.”

Back on Top

With a 1-0 win over defending division champion Wall on Monday, Monsignor Donovan moved into a first-place tie with the Crimson Knights in the Shore Conference Class C Central.

The Griffins have sported competitive teams for the better part of the last decade, one that expects to compete for division titles year in and year out, however their latest run at the top spot is a little more out of the blue.

“We didn’t know exactly what to expect, but after watching what we had in the preseason, we knew we were going to be better,” Griffins coach Ken Oliver said. “We haven’t been scoring a ton of goals, but we’ve found a way to find the net when we needed to. We scored late to beat Toms River South and then we get a big goal in the second half against Wall (on Monday).”

Monsignor Donovan won all of four games last year while dealing with injuries and inexperience alike, but Monday’s win already pushes the Griffins past last year’s win total. More importantly, it signals that the program is back in the championship hunt with a healthier, more battle-tested team.

Mickey Connell and Andrew Hemberger have led the charge for Monsignor Donovan so far, with Hemberger scoring twice and Connell leading the team in scoring behind three goals and an assist. Connell assisted Jeff Baumbach’s game-winning goal on Monday against Wall.

Baumbach has been Exhibit A of Monsignor Donovan’s team contribution. The junior has come off the bench in all eight games thus far and in each of the last two, he has scored the game-winning goal. On Friday, he scored the second goal of the first half in a 2-1 win over Lakewood.

“He was a guy that was just coming off the bench to give us some minutes and some energy up top and he goes in and scores a goal in our last two wins,” Oliver said. “That’s the kind of stuff you have to have if you’re going to compete for a division title. We don’t have a big goal-scorer like some of these other teams, let alone two or three. But we do have a bunch of guys that have two goals so far and I think you’re going to see a pretty balanced team in terms of scoring because we have a lot of guys who can score when it’s there.”

Senior Adam King has also been a key member of the team, mostly because of his move from forward to fullback. King led the team in goal-scoring last year, but moved to the back because of an injury to junior outside back Jared Bebee.

“Adam has been great for us in the back and he’s really put the team first playing back there,” Oliver said. “He scored some big goals for us last year, but he’s gone back on defense and he’s given us exactly what we needed.”

Junior center backs Dylan Thompson-Sevcik and John Underwood have also solidified the defense in front of sophomore goalkeeper Paul Kelly. Thompson-Sevcik and Underwood both missed the majority of last season due to injury.

“Our defense has been really solid,” Oliver said. “And Paul Kelly is very strong in goal, especially considering that he’s only a sophomore. It gives us a chance to stay in every game.”

In Other Boys Action…

Toms River South had won four straight games before dropping the overtime thriller at Toms River East. The Indians defeated Toms River North 2-0 on Wednesday for their fourth straight win behind goals from Tyler Sakolsky and Diego Mendez.

Toms River North, meanwhile, got back to winning by topping Jackson Memorial 4-0 on Monday.

In Girls Action…

Toms River South and Monsignor Donovan continued their strong play with wins Monday.

The Indians remained unbeaten in Class A South by topping Toms River East Monday behind a late goal by Taylor Van Zile. The senior ripped a shot from 18 yards out to give Toms River South the lead, one that would hold up to improve the Indians’ record to 5-0-1 overall and 3-0-1 in the division.

Toms River South failed to win for the first time on Wednesday when Toms River North battled the Indians to a scoreless tie. The Mariners dropped their Monday match at Jackson Memorial, 1-0.

Monsignor Donovan improved to 5-0 in the Class C Central division and 5-3 overall with a 1-0 win over Wall on Monday.

Erin Ruddy scored just before halftime on a free kick into the box by Amanda Gulli and the Griffins defense held in front of goalkeeper Christina Gili.