Boys Soccer – 2015 All-Shore Teams

All-Shore Teams

First Team

Forwards

Cameron Geerinck, Sr., Toms River South

Season Totals: 28 goals, 9 assists

Postseason Totals: 12 goals, 2 assists in 10 games

Toms River South had arguably its best season in program history and one of the reasons the Indians were so tough to beat was because you could pretty much start the game by giving them a goal on the scoreboard. With the exception of Toms River South’s 4-0 loss to Mendham in the NJSIAA Group III final, Geerinck scored at least one goal in all nine of his team’s postseason tournament games. Toms River South advanced to the semifinals of the Shore Conference Tournament before losing a 2-1 battle against CBA and pushed all the way to the NJSIAA Group III final.

Over the course of the season, Geerinck set a single-season school record with 28 goals, eclipsing the previous record of 25 held by former Toms River North coach Dave Mitchell. He tied the record with two goals in a 4-0 win over Lacey in the South Jersey Group III semifinals, then broke it with two more goals in the 2-1 sectional final win against Ocean City. He capped his season scoring by breaking through the Ocean defense for the lone goal in a 1-0 Indians win over the Spartans in the Group III semifinals. Geerinck broke into the starting lineup early in his junior season and finished his career with 36 goals and 19 assists.

J.T. Kessler, Sr., Shore

Season Totals: 38 goals, 20 assists

Postseason Totals: 2 goals, 4 assists in 5 games

For the second straight season, Kessler won the Shore Conference scoring championship, combining for 77 goals during his junior and senior seasons and finishing with 94 for his career. The Blue Devils striker helped lead the Shore soccer program to new heights in both 2014 and 2015, which included the first NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I championship since 1998 in 2014 and the first Shore Conference Tournament semifinal appearance since 1994 in 2015.

As one might expect from a player with 38 goals in 22 games, Kessler had some big performances over the course of his senior season. In total, he notched seven hat tricks, including a four-goal game in a come-from-behind, 5-2 win over Rumson-Fair Haven and a five-goal outburst in a 5-2 win over Point Beach. He also scored a goal in each of Shore’s Shore Conference Tournament wins against Long Branch and Middletown North and also added a pair of assists in a 4-0 win over the Lions in the SCT quarterfinals.

Chris Hoskins, Sr., Freehold Township

Season Totals: 18 goals, 8 assists

Postseason Totals: 4 goals, 3 assists in 7 games

After carving out a niche last year as a capable player in the air who created goals with his hustle, Hoskins was arguably the most improved all-around player in the conference this season. He remained deadly in the air, particularly on set pieces served in by a fellow All-Shore first-teamer later on the list, and also added a complete scoring arsenal to his list of attributes. The result was an 18-goal season complemented by eight assists as a striker for a Freehold Township team that won its second Central Jersey Group IV championship in the last six years.

As it turned out, Hoskins continue his breaking-in period during the first calendar month of the season, during which he recorded a relatively-modest five goals and three assists. He then went off in month No. 2, scoring 13 goals to go with five assists, including his only career hat trick against a Manalapan team that twice shutout No. 1 CBA. He also stepped up in the postseason, recording either a goal or an assist in the first six of Freehold Township’s seven tournament games. He scored in three straight NJSIAA Tournament games, including a golden goal against Colts Neck in the opening round and the lone goal in a 1-0 win at No. 2 South Brunswick. He also dished out an assist in Freehold Township’s wild win over Monroe in the Central Jersey Group IV final and scored in a 2-1 SCT loss to Toms River South.

Marlhens Nasanes, Sr., Ocean

Season Totals: 20 goals, 7 assists

Postseason Totals: 6 goals in 9 games

Like Geerinck and Hoskins, Nasanes gave the Shore a glimpse at what was to come last year before breaking out this season. He followed up a six-goal campaign as a junior by putting up 20 as a senior, one of seven Shore Conference players to hit the 20-goal mark this season. Nasanes led the scoring charge for an Ocean team that had its best season in more than a decade: 19 wins, a Class B North regular-season division title, a trip to the Shore Conference Tournament championship game and the first Central Jersey Group III championship since 2000.

As far as postseason performance, Nasanes checks off that box as well. He scored six of his 20 goals in tournament games, including two each in an SCT win over rival Wall and a CJ III opening-round win over Moorestown. He also scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win at No. 2 Steinert in the sectional semifinals and iced a 2-0 win over Shore in the SCT semifinals with a second-half goal. Over the course of the season, Nasanes scored multiple goals in a game six different times, including a hat trick against Long Branch in division play.

Midfield

Matt Thorsheim, Jr., Christian Brothers Academy

Season Totals: 12 goals, 21 assists

Postseason Totals: 6 goals, 9 assists in 8 games

Since earning a starting spot as a freshman – a rare occurrence at CBA – Thorsheim has lived up to the early expectations through three varsity seasons and for the first time since he has been in the program, the Colts lived up to their lofty expectations as well. Since going 21-0 and winning the NJSIAA Non-Public A championship in 2011, CBA had not advanced past the Shore Conference Tournament round of 16 before this season. This past year, the Colts returned to their No. 1 perch in the Shore Conference by winning 19 games and taking championships in the Class A North regular season, the Shore Conference Tournament and the Non-Public A South section. Thorsheim was at the center of that success, turning the gears of the Colts machine from the midfield in a season that will go down as one of the best individual performances ever by a Colt earned him the 2015 Shore Sports Network Player of the Year.

Thorsheim’s 12 goals were only one third of the leading total in the Shore Conference, but the junior midfielder dished out a conference-leading 21 assists, which is believed by the coaching staff to be a single-season school record. He had seven games with multiple assists and posted three three-assist games – two of which came in consecutive NJSIAA Tournament wins over St. John Vianney and defending sectional champion Notre Dame. Of his 12 goals, seven came across four games against the likes of Freehold Township, Don Bosco, Manalapan and St. Augustine. His two goals against St. Augustine – including a game-winning goal in the final four minutes – propelled CBA into the Non-Public A final for the first time in four years.

Robert Biele, Sr., Lacey

Season Totals: 28 goals, 13 assists

Postseason Totals: 4 goals, 3 assists in 5 games

One would be hard-pressed to find a player who meant more to a top-10 team than Biele meant to Lacey during the Lions’ 17-6 campaign. With his school-record 28 goals and 13 assists, Biele had a hand in just under 59 percent of Lacey’s goals this season, a higher percentage than every player in the Shore except for Pinelands junior Matt O’Connell (63 percent). That number is all the more impressive considering Lacey was the No. 4 scoring team in the Shore Conference on a per-game basis. The Biele-led attack fueled the Lions to a run at the division title, a pursuit that ended with a 2-1 home loss to Toms River South in the second-to-last divisional game of the season. In that game, Biele scored one of his two goals of the season against the No. 2 Indians, a goal that tied the game.

Biele also had a goal and two assists in a win over the Indians in September, the only game Toms River South lost against Class A South competition all season long. His two regular-season performances against Toms River South, as well as road wins over Jackson Memorial (goal and an assist) and Toms River North (one goal) stand out as his top big-game performances of the year. Biele also notched four hat tricks – two against Brick and one each against Jackson Liberty and Barnegat – and scored two goals in a win over Deptford in the South Jersey Group III opening round. Biele was also voted by the division coaches as the Class A South Player of the Year, as well as the Ocean County Player of the Year.

Wadneson Alexis, Sr., Ocean

Season Totals: 7 goals, 8 assists

Postseason Totals: 2 goals, 4 assists in 6 games

From the time he burst onto the Shore Conference scene as a speedy freshman striker off the bench for the Shore Conference Tournament champion Spartans in 2012, Alexis has stood out on the high school soccer field. He is a three-year starter, a four-year letter-winner and a three-time All-Shore selection who has amassed 35 goals in his four-year career while evolving from a speedster up top to a precision distributor out of the midfield. A knee injury last season sapped Alexis of some of his explosiveness, but it forced him to be more creative out of the midfield, which is a side the Spartans and their opponents saw plenty of over the course of their championship season this past year.

With Alexis running the midfield and an army of forwards for him to set up for runs, Ocean finished second in the Shore Conference in total goals (72). During Ocean’s deep runs in the postseason tournaments, Alexis scored a goal in each of the tournament openers – one against Central Regional in the SCT and the other against Moorestown in the Central Group III Playoffs. In his four varsity seasons, Alexis has won both an SCT and an NJSIAA sectional title, three Class B North division titles, was First Team All-Shore as a sophomore and a senior, and All-Shore Second Team as a junior.

Dante Montesinos, Jr., Shore

Season Totals: 28 goals, 17 assists

Postseason Totals: 4 goals, 2 assists in 5 games

Not many players in the state can scored 28 goals and dish out 17 assists without leading his team in either category, but that was life for Montesinos while playing on a team with J.T. Kessler this season. As the second-leading scorer on his own team, Montesinos matched Kessler with 10 multi-goal games to lead the Shore Conference, including a hat trick against Ranney. If there was one team Montesinos owned this season, it was the Panthers, against whom the three-year varsity starter scored five goals and two assists in two games.

Montesinos also stepped up against other top competition, including in the postseason. He scored two goals to go with an assist in a Shore Conference Tournament win over Long Branch and followed that up with a goal in a quarterfinal win over Middletown North. He also assisted the lone goal of Shore’s 1-0 win over Point Beach in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I quarterfinals and scored in the 2-1 loss to South River in the sectional semifinals. In three varsity seasons, Montesinos has scored 55 goals and 33 assists and will have a good chance to become the third Shore player to reach 80-career-goal plateau in the last five seasons (Kessler, Jon Junqueira).

Defense

Mike Maltese, Sr., Freehold Township

Season Totals: 2 goals, 14 assists

Postseason Totals: 1 goal, 4 assists in 7 games

One of three players to repeat as First-Team All-Shore selections, Maltese again played as a two-way threat from the outside fullback position and drove Freehold Township to a second-straight championship season. After helping to lead the Patriots to a Shore Conference Tournament championship as a junior starter and All-Shore defender last year, Maltese and Co. bounced back from a quarterfinal loss to Toms River South in the SCT to win the Central Jersey Group IV championship for the first time since 2010.

Maltese dished out 14 assists over the course of the season, which matched the previous single-season record held by former midfielder and current assistant coach Ryan Clark, who starred at Monmouth University after leading the Patriots to an SCT title in 2008. Maltese picked up an assist in 12 different games this season, including four consecutive postseason games spanning the Shore Conference and NJSIAA Tournaments. Of Chris Hoskins’ 18 goals this season, Maltese assisted 12 of them – including a golden goal to beat Colts Neck in the opening round of the NJSIAA Tournament.

Mike McNicholas, Sr., Manalapan

Season Totals: 1 goal

Like Maltese, McNicholas is a second-time selection as an All-Shore First-Team player and joins Wadneson Alexis as the only three-time All-Shore selection on any of the three teams this year. A four-year starter, McNicholas has been the leader of the back line for Manalapan team that has gone 46-13-6 over the last three seasons with an SCT title in 2013 and an NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV crown in 2014. The Braves didn’t capture any hardware this past season, but that had little to do with McNicholas-led defense – which protected four different goalkeepers during the season and allowed only 15 goals in 19 games.

Just as in past years, no individual statistic – at least not a conventional one – will adequately reveal McNicholas’ impact. To actually see how good the senior was, one would need only to find video of both of Manalapan’s 1-0 wins over CBA, and even the Braves’ SCT loss to the Colts for that matter. McNicholas dominated the box against the No. 1 Colts in all three meetings and Manalapan was the only Shore Conference team to beat CBA once this year, let alone twice.

Ryan Wells, Sr., Ocean

Season Totals: 7 goals, 5 assists

Postseason Totals: 1 goal, 2 assists in 9 games

Heading into the season, Ocean was a team identified by its talent on the attack and offensive potential. By the end of the year, the Spartans were shutting teams down. Wells was a unique player because he contributed significantly to both of those profiles, anchoring the defense as a senior captain and central defender while also pushing up for seven goals and five assists thanks to his big right foot and ability in the air. The offense-defense combination was a big factor in Ocean’s banner season, which included B North and Central Jersey Group III titles, as well as a trip to the SCT final.

While Wells did most of his scoring during the regular season, his lone goal during Ocean’s nine-game postseason run was its biggest. With 1:30 left in the second overtime period and the Spartans facing the possibility of penalty kicks to decide the Central Jersey Group III final against West Windsor-Plainsboro North, Wells pushed up and headed in a corner kick by Santino Harding to win the game and deliver Ocean its first sectional title in 15 years. Wells also added an assist each in wins over Moorestown and Steinert during the run through Central Jersey III.

Mike Tapp, Sr., Toms River South

Season Totals: 1 goal, 5 assists

Postseason Totals: 2 assists in 10 games

The winningest season in the history of Toms River South boys soccer will be remembered as the season of Cameron Geerinck, but the Indians quietly had a stellar season keeping opponents out of the goal. While junior goalkeeper Dom Pizzi was a revelation in his first season as a starter, it took time for him to settle in and that’s where the fast, physical back line made its mark. No player better personified the Indians defense better than Tapp, a two-year starter who moved from outside back to center back this season and became a force in his team’s own box and also pushing forward on the attack. While fellow center back Chris Kluxten was the throw-in specialist, Tapp was the most potent Toms River South player on free kicks, which helped Tapp collect five assists this year.

Tapp scored just one goal this season, but it came against rival Toms River North, who had taken an early 1-0 lead in the game before Tapp struck with the equalizer. As for the defensive side, Tapp led a defense that posted 12 shutouts and allowed less than a goal per game. Of the 21 goals allowed by Toms River South this season, 10 of them came in three losses to Group II finalist Holmdel, Lacey with three starters out due to injury and Mendham in the Group III final.

Goalkeeper

Mike Christina, Sr., Freehold Township

Freehold Township has not had too many low points over the last two seasons, but Christina might have contributed to the lowest point when he drew a red card with his team leading CBA 2-0 in the latter part of the second half of the first regular-season meeting between the Class A North rivals. The Colts went on to rally for a 3-2 win, Christina missed the next three games, and Freehold Township fell just a half-game short of CBA for the Class A North title. After the low of watching his team lose that game, Christina spent the rest of the season making up for it by playing lights-out in goal for a Freehold Township team that hit its stride in mid-October.

Christina pitched nine shutouts in goal for the Patriots, none bigger than his 12-save clean sheet against second-seeded South Brunswick in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV quarterfinals, a 1-0 Patriots victory. One game after baffling the Vikings, Christina again delivered a sparkling performance in a 3-1 win over No. 3 Princeton in which he laid out for four huge saves to keep the Patriots on top and finished with eight saves in all. Although the sectional final at Monroe turned into a back-and-forth goal-scoring fest, Christina delivered the first pivotal moment in the game when he saved a penalty kick 10 minutes in with Monroe applying early pressure. The other two goals he allowed in the game were on another penalty kick and a breakaway. Christina, who began his high school career at CBA and filled in for 2014 First-Team All-Shore goalkeeper Brian Shushkovsky for six games last year, made the most of his chance then and proved he could thrive in a full-time role, even after an early setback in the season.

Second Team

Forwards

Mike Schoener, Jr., Jackson Memorial – A fast and physical forward, Schoener proved that 2014 was just a sample of what he could do. He scored 25 goals this year and accounted for a whopping 54 percent of the Jaguars’ goals, the highest percentage of any player within the context of his team’s goal-scoring.

Jamie Martin, Sr., Rumson-Fair Haven – Martin was the leading scorer on the Class A Central champion Bulldogs with 14 goals and seven assists and was the lone holdover from the 19-win team in 2013. He finished his career with 28 goals and 15 assists.

Sam Monaco, Sr., Point Pleasant Boro – After spending prior years as a sweeper, Monaco pushed up to play both forward and midfield in his final varsity season and produced 16 goals and nine assists for the two-time division champion Panthers.

Joey Hertgen, Sr., Toms River North – A back-to-back All-Shore second-teamer, Hertgen capped his high school career with nine goals and 10 assists for a Mariners team that had its moments over the course of the year, including a 6-0 win over Holmdel in which Hertgen opened the scoring.

Midfield

Dan Frisch-Harmon, Jr., Wall – A three-year starter in his first three high school seasons, Frisch-Harmon has been at the center of Wall’s airtight formation as the defensive center midfielder. He finished his junior season with three goals.

Mitchel Volis, Sr., Manalapan – The Braves lost a lot of scoring from a year ago, but Volis helped keep them stable in the midfield. He scored five goals to go with three assists for a Manalapan team that beat No. 1 CBA twice this season.

Anthony Chiaino, Sr., Middletown North – Chiaino made his varsity debut this season at Middletown North after starting his high school career at CBA and spending two years on the academy circuit. He racked up 10 goals and nine assists while leading the Lions to the SCT quarterfinals and the North 2 Group III semifinals.

Ryan Nigro, Jr., Christian Brothers Academy – Nigro’s insertion into the lineup at defensive center midfielder in mid-September ignited CBA’s resurgent season and put one of the Shore’s top midfielders on display. He finished his first varsity season with three goals and seven assists, including the go-ahead goal in the SCT final.

Defense

Scott Misson, Jr., Christian Brothers Academy – The younger of the two standout CBA center fullbacks, Misson enjoyed a breakout year in his debut varsity season, helping to anchor a CBA defense that posted 14 shutouts and allowed 14 goals in 24 games.

Adrian Barajas, Jr., Freehold Township – The injury bug hit Freehold Township’s defense midseason, but Barajas endured and helped lead the center of the backline. The 6-foot-5 junior pushed up for five goals and an assist for the Central Jersey Group IV champions.

Tom Lozowski, Sr., Christian Brothers Academy – After spending the last two years of his varsity career as a midfielder, Lozowski made the move to center back and combined with Misson to form arguably the most formidable central defense in the Shore.

Jacob Bordman, Sr., Marlboro – The Mustangs were a competitive team in the black-and-blue Class A North division and it was largely because of their goal-prevention and possession game, led by Bordman – one of the lone senior contributors on a young Marlboro team.

Goalkeepers

Nolan Cloney, Jr., Wall – The goalkeeper for the Shore Conference’s top scoring defense (eight goals in 19 games), Cloney finished tied for the Shore Conference lead in shutouts with 14 in his first season as a varsity goalkeeper.

Dom Pizzi, Jr., Toms River South – Another first-year goalkeeper as a junior, Pizzi went from a question mark to one of the highlights of a Toms River South team that won a Shore-Conference-best 21 games with 12 shutouts and reached the Group III final.

Third Team

Forwards

Patrick Kollman, Jr., Christian Brothers Academy – The Colts junior worked his way into the starting lineup and recorded 15 goals, including two postseason hat tricks and eight total goals between the SCT and Non-Public A Playoffs.

Justin McStay, So., Holmdel – After beginning the season as a central defender, McStay moved up top following an injury absence and finished the season with eight goals and seven assists, leading the Hornets to the Group II final for the fourth time in six years.

Matt O’Connell, Jr., Pinelands – The Wildcats reached the SCT for the second straight season behind O’Connell, who led all of Class B South in scoring with 19 goals and 12 assists.

Matt Dalton, Jr., Donovan Catholic – A breakout junior season for Dalton included 18 goals and nine assists for a Donovan Catholic team that scored 44 on the season.

Midfield

Stevie Johnson, Jr., Shore – Teammates J.T. Kessler and Dante Montesinos grabbed most of the scoring headlines, but Johnson held court in the midfield with 11 goals and 11 assists for the 20-2 Blue Devils.

Reilly Barcas, Sr., Wall – Barcas was the top-scorer for the defensive-minded Crimson Knights, posting nine goals and four assists in his first full season as a starter.

Owen Greengrove, So., Rumson-Fair Haven – In his first season as a high school soccer player, Greengrove held together the Bulldogs formation while scoring five goals and five assists as a sophomore.

Jake Dufner, Sr., Central – Dufner went from playing in obscurity for a 0-19 Manchester team last year to leading the Golden Eagles in goals with 18, including a pair in an SCT win over Donovan Catholic and four in a regular-season win over Jackson Liberty.

Defense

Chris Kluxen, Jr., Toms River South – One of the Shore’s top throw-in specialists, Kluxen emerged as a linchpin of the Indians defense who also added three goals on the season.

Zach Ferry, Sr., Wall – In addition to manning the middle of Wall’s lockdown defense that allowed eight goals in 19 goals, Ferry also served as a set-piece artist who assisted four goals during his senior season.

Tom Judge, Jr., Christian Brothers Academy – Judge played much of the season as a forward and midfielder, but CBA’s defense took off as a result of his move to outside back. Even as a defender, Judge was a scoring threat and he finished his first varsity season with 10 goals.

Brandon Pirog, Sr., Jackson Liberty – After playing in the back as a sophomore and up top as a junior, the senior split time between the two positions and posted 15 goals in his final season.

Goalkeepers

Aedan Boriotti, Jr., Christian Brothers Academy – In his first year as a starter, Boriotti delivered 14 shutouts to tie a single-season school record that he now shares with Steve Donato, the keeper for the unbeaten 2011 team.

Tyler Marchiano, Sr., Holmdel – Marchiano played in front of an inexperienced defense for most of the season and delivered four of his 12 shutouts during Holmdel’s run to the Group II final. He finished his stellar three-year career with a school-record 32 shutouts.