Boys Soccer – VOTE: Surf Taco Week 7 Player of the Week

Each week during the 2020 fall season, Shore Sports Network recognizes the top performers in each Shore Conference division and the SSN readers have a chance to vote for the overall Surf Taco Player of the Week.

Below are the top players from each of the Shore Conference's six divisions plus two wild cards who are in the running for the award for the seventh week of the season. Read about their accomplishments from the past week and vote for the player who should be recognized as overall Player of the Week.

Overall Player of the Week winners will be awarded a Surf Taco gift card. Vote once every hour at the bottom of this post until the poll closes at 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

Class A North Player of the Week

Max Rosen, Marlboro

A difficult season ended in difficult fashion for Marlboro, which went 0-3 during the week while facing two of the Shore’s hottest teams – Freehold Township (seven straight wins) and Jackson Memorial (six straight). Outside of a rough second half in the first Freehold Township loss, Marlboro was in all three games, with Rosen playing well in all three. He scored in both Freehold Township losses, scoring the first goal in a 4-1 loss on Tuesday and a second-half equalizer on Thursday.

Class A North Honorable Mention: Jack Longo, CBA; Jonah Ortega, Manalapan; Augusto Bon Tempo, Long Branch; Jason Laviola, Long Branch

Class A Central Player of the Week

Bryan Leonard, Monmouth

After starting the year as a returning defender, Leonard has moved up to the top of the formation and made a big impact for Monmouth. The senior scored a goal and an assist in a win over Passaic Tech to tune up for the state tournament and the tune-up served its purpose. In Saturday’s opening round, Leonard went off for a hat trick in a 4-1 Falcons win over Manasquan.

Class A Central Honorable Mention: Alec Pentikis, Rumson-Fair Haven; Connor Hinds, Holmdel; Rodley Petit, Ocean

Class A South Player of the Week

Kevin Kiernan, Southern

This past week was a landmark one in Southern’s soccer history, with the Rams finishing in a first-place tie in Class A South to match their highest finish ever in the division (a Class A South co-title in 1989). As is the case with most big Southern wins over the past three years, Kiernan was at the heart of his team’s two results this week. He scored two goals – including the golden goal in overtime – in Monday’s thrilling 4-3 win over previously-unbeaten Toms River North, then scored two more in Saturday’s 3-3 draw vs. the Mariners.

Class A South Honorable Mention: Steve Bado, Jackson Memorial; Jon Fitzgerald, Toms River South; Zack Meyer, Brick; Danny Lindov, Toms River South; Parker Nickelsen, Toms River North; Noah Raimonde, Toms River East; Mike Conklin, Toms River East; Sean Palmer, Brick; Noah Tobias, Jackson Memorial

Class B North Player of the Week

Johnny Troiano, St. John Vianney

The Lancers had their first two-win, undefeated week with a win and draw in two games vs. Freehold Boro and a state tournament win over Wardlaw-Hartridge. Troiano was the team’s star in its two wins, scoring two goals and an assist in a 3-0 win over Freehold Boro and exploding for four goals and an assist in a 6-0 rout of Wardlaw in the Central East Non-Public first round.

Class B North Honorable Mention: Sean Southwell, Wall; Jake Pepe, Wall; Kervens Lafortune, Neptune; Marvin Muñoz Garcia, Neptune

Class B Central Player of the Week

Johnny Contini, Mater Dei Prep

The Seraphs picked up a win over Keyport to open the week and nearly knocked off Timothy Christian in the opening round of the state tournament and a trio of Mater Dei players were integral to the offensive end of the success. Marcone Pessoa and Zach O’Neal each logged a two-goal game this week, while Contini was a constant in both matches, posting a goal and an assist in each game.

Class B Central Honorable Mention: Marcone Pessoa, Mater Dei; Zach O’Neal, Mater Dei; Matt Kirkpatrick, St. Rose; Chefeston Simeus, Asbury Park; Morgan Fahy, St. Rose

Class B South Player of the Week

Brandon Sogness, Manchester

The Class B South season wasn’t especially kind to Manchester, with the Hawks finishing fourth in the incomplete standings. Outside the division, however, they are 3-0 following a first-round state-tournament win over Shore Regional. Sogness scored one of the two goals in Saturday’s win over the Blue Devils, which followed a two-goal performance earlier in the week in a 5-3 win over Donovan Catholic.

Class B South Honorable Mention: James Cahill, Pinelands; Stephen Dimileo, Pinelands; Christian Jimenez, Lakewood; Noah Hamouda, Lacey; Owen Edwards, Manchester

Wild Cards

Steve Bado, Jackson Memorial

Jackson Memorial is one of the Shore’s hottest teams at the moment and during a big week, Bado was the Jaguars player that stood out. The junior striker scored two goals Thursday to lead a 5-1 win over Brick, then scored the golden goal Saturday to give Jackson Memorial a 2-1 win over Marlboro in the NJSIAA Central East Group IV South first round. Bado leads the Jaguars with nine goals on the season.

Sean Southwell, Wall

Southwell has been the defensive rock for the Crimson Knights throughout the year and he was huge on that end of the field in two wins over a Colts Neck side that was playing like a scoring juggernaut leading up to this week. Offensively, Southwell stepped up with a pair of huge free kicks, one of which set up junior Emmett Aravich’s game-winning goal on Tuesday and another that initiated the deciding own goal while Wall played a man down during Thursday’s 2-1 win at Colts Neck.