Boys Soccer – Preseason Notes: Toms River Kickoff Classic

All eight of the teams from the Shore Conference Class A South division played at the Toms River North Kick-Off Classic this past weekend, and yet the division everyone wanted to talk about in Toms River was Class B North.

The unofficial winners of the weekend gathering at neighboring Bey Lea and Oak Parks, at least among Shore Conference teams, were Wall and Ocean, according to a consensus Shore Conference coaches,

Wall loses four starters from a team that played its best soccer at the end of last year, but one of the reasons Wall had such success was its depth. That depth was on display over the weekend, with coach Garry Linstra splitting the team up over Saturday and Sunday. Good showings against Dallas, Pa., and Delran earned plenty of reverence from the other coaches, and solid outings against Spotswood and Sayreville with most of the starters capped a good kickoff to the preseason for one of the clubs with a good case to be the preseason No. 1 team in the Shore Conference.

Ocean, meanwhile, has a lot more of a starting lineup to replace from a year ago and won’t have many seniors with which to do it. What the Spartans lack in senior presence, they make up for in scorers, which is what stood out about the Spartans over the weekend. Wadneson Alexis and Mahrlens Nasane showed that they will be a handful up at the top of the formation, which should only partially be news considering Alexis was a first-team All-Shore forward last season.

Long Branch – another B North team that had a successful weekend at the Harrison Tournament – will also look to get back in the division race after a disappointing 2013, as will a Red Bank team that returns the second-leading scorer in the Shore Conference in Justin Gilson, as well as plenty of starting talent around him. Throw in Colts Neck – which moves into the division under the latest Shore Conference realignment after going a combined 18-4-6 over the last two years against a grueling Class A North schedule – and the Class B North season should be one of the most hotly-contested races in the Shore Conference.

Dogs’ New Digs

While the likes of Wall, Ocean, Long Branch and Red Bank are left to duke it out in one of the toughest B North divisions in a long time, Matawan will get a bit of a reprieve by moving to Class A Central. It’s possible that assertion is a gross underestimation of how good A Central is, particularly considering the seasons that Rumson-Fair Haven, Holmdel and Raritan had in 2013, but among those three teams and St. John Vianney, only Holmdel returns the majority of its starting lineup.

Although Matawan is in a similar predicament with much of its 2013 lineup having graduated, the Huskies showed some promise over the weekend, which included a four-goal game against Donovan Catholic (formerly Monsignor Donovan) to open the weekend. Alex Cella was an 8-goal scorer as a junior, and he fits the latter half of coach Dave Deegan’s description of his Huskies side: “We’re small, but we are fast.”

Holmdel: Under the Radar?

Staying in Class A Central, Holmdel was its usual preseason self over the weekend, which means the Hornets could be flying under the radar as a top team in the Shore once again. They are working out some kinks, trying new players at open spots, but again showed they are ready to again compete for division, Shore Conference Tournament and NJSIAA sectional titles. Although Holmdel did not win any of those outright last year, it was a co-division champion with Rumson in Class A Central and one of the final four teams in both the SCT and Central Jersey Group II tournaments. Senior Gino D’Agostino and sophomore Brendan Wall both found the net during the weekend in Toms River and the duo is primed to lead the scoring charge at Holmdel as one of the better duos in Monmouth County.

Golden Boys Headline B South Trio

Ocean County’s top returning scoring duo did not disappoint over the weekend, as Blake Czajkowski and Doug Jensen helped get Central off to a noteworthy start to the preseason by beating Bergen Catholic, 3-2, on a late goal by Jensen that was set up by Czajkowski. Last year, Czajkowski led the Shore conference in scoring with 20 goals and 12 assists while Jensen had 11 goals and 13 assists. Senior goalkeeper Bryan Jones also made a number of key saves in the match and will be a key for Central going forward as coach Rob Bechtloff expects to run out a sophomore-heavy back line.

Jackson Liberty and Donovan Catholic were also in Toms River to represent the Class B South division. Donovan is in the process of replacing an accomplished group of seniors from 2013, particularly in goal, where four-year starter and All-Shore first-teamer Paul Kelly leaves a void. Jackson Liberty showed lots of promise over the weekend with its host of returning starters, led by senior midfielder Adam Haidi.

A South Teams Prepared for Chaos

Even though all of Class A South was on display over the weekend in Toms River, it has the most unclear landscape of any division. Defending champion Toms River North played well in matches against Don Bosco and Shawnee while struggling against East Brunswick. Toms River South returns the most talent, but had mixed results that included losses to Raritan and Ramapo, as well as a draw against Sayreville. Toms River East was competitive despite the absence of forward Jon Meola, who was playing in the prestigious Area Code Games for the nation’s top prep baseball players.

Jackson Memorial and Brick Memorial had the most successful tournaments of the A South teams. Brick Memorial is right behind Toms River South in returning talent and the Mustangs return a lot more scoring than the Indians. Jackson Memorial has used the Kick-off Classic as a springboard over the last several seasons and a 4-0 mark without some of its top returning talent – still playing for other teams around the country and overseas according to coach Steve Bado – should bode well for the Jaguars.

Brick endured another last-place finish in Class A South last year, but that could change this year with a mostly-senior roster. Goalkeeper is still a question mark with three-year starter Hunter Palmer electing to play football this year, but the rest of the field will have lots of experience. Southern is also looking to bounce back from an injury-plagued 2013, although the Toms River showcase wasn’t much of a preview of the Rams' season since they were missing several potential starters, according to coach Evan Brosniak.

Lacey in Limbo

Coming off a competitive season in Class A South, Lacey is looking to put the finishing touches on its coaching search while still preparing for the season. Robert Biele – who served as an assistant under previous head coach Joe D’Archangelo – is the acting head coach and said he is preparing to be the coach for the entirety of the season, while athletic director Karen Hughes said a “very frustrating” process of finding and naming a coach is still ongoing.

D’Archangelo stepped down in May while taking assistant coaching jobs as a coach with the Players Development Academy and Georgian Court University.