Boys Soccer – VOTE: Week 1 Surf Taco Boys Soccer Player of the Week
Each week during the 2022 soccer season, Shore Sports Network will recognize some of the top performers in the Shore Conference over the calendar week and give the fans of the Shore Conference to vote for the overall winner for the Player of the Week. There will be eight candidates, including six Players of the Week from each of the Shore Conference divisions as well as two wild cards.
The first Player of the Week contest of the 2022 season is a grand version, with performers from the first 11 days of the season under consideration. Read about the exploits of the first eight candidates to see their names on the ballot and vote for the best of the best to win the first Player of the Week competition of the new season.
Vote once per hour until the poll closes on Thursday at 10 p.m. The winner will be announced on Friday and awarded a $25 gift card to Surf Taco.
Class A North Player of the Week
Nick Spisak, Howell
Howell is off to a red-hot start and appears to have the closest thing to a championship contender that it has had in more than a decade. The emergence of sophomore Nick Turturro (five goals) has been a major factor, but the play of returning senior Nick Spisak has stood out above everything else. Spisak also has five goals to match Turturro and also dishing out five assists of his own. The five goals includes a hat trick, which came in a 4-0 win over a Manasquan side that opened the season ranked in the Shore Sports Network Top 10.
Class A North Honorable Mention: Miles Richardson, Marlboro; Nick Turturro, Howell; Anthony Vasquez, Long Branch; Aidan Englander, Freehold Twp.; Tyler Santos, Freehold Twp.; Noah Jones, Freehold Twp.; Will Thygeson, CBA; Jack D’Eletto, CBA; C.J. Crolius, Middletown North; Travis Soto, Middletown North; Josiah Stepney, Middletown North; J.P. Candela, Howell; Alex Soto, Middletown South; Mike Colantino, Middletown North
Class A Central Player of the Week
Stephan Kapranov, Holmdel
Holmdel came into year hoping it could replace a major goal-scorer up top and it did not take long for Kapranov to announce his presence. The sophomore posted hat tricks in back-to-back games against Freehold Boro and Matawan, the notched two more goals in a win over Red Bank Catholic to give him eight goals during a three-game span. With no goals conceded in five games, Holmdel has not needed the bulk scoring, but Kapranov has given opponents something else to think about.
Class A Central Honorable Mention: Antonio Santos, Rumson-Fair Haven; Nick DiNapoli, Shore; Sean Wisk, Monmouth
Class A South Player of the Week
David Kroon, Central
Kroon’s season came to an end with a gut-wrenching leg injury against Toms River North and it will be hard to replace the junior based on what he did in his all-too-short 2022 season. In a 5-1 win over Brick, Kroon scored two goals and assisted two others. Before suffering the injury, Kroon scored the first Central goal in a 3-2 loss to the Mariners. Central rallied for a win over Pinelands on Monday night with Kroon in attendance for inspiration four days after having surgery on his leg.
Class A South Honorable Mention: Anthony Ruggiero, Toms River North; Jackson Markovitch, Toms River East; Jayson Nardone, Brick; Stephen Csatari, Jackson Memorial; Jon Fitzgerald, Toms River South; Kenny Caruso, Toms River South; Connor Hackett, Brick Memorial; Kajas Matazinskas, Toms River East
Class B North Player of the Week
Ernst Louisius, Neptune
After putting up an All-Shore season as a junior with 17 goals, Louisius has picked up where he left off with five goals and three assists in Neptune’s first four games. After getting shutout in a 1-0 loss to Ocean, Neptune and Louisius have caught fire, with the senior striker going off for a hat trick and an assist in a 4-0 win over Pinelands, followed by a goal and an assist each in wins over Red Bank and Middletown North. Against Middletown North, Louisius’s goal was the game-winner in the 2-1 win over the Lions.
Class B North Honorable Mention: Jairo Chiro, Colts Neck; Archeley Eugene, Ocean; Griffin Linstra, Manasquan; Kervins Lafortune, Neptune; Aidan Sugrue, Manasquan; Kyle Moore, Colts Neck; Matt Brana, St. John Vianney
Class B Central Player of the Week
Dev Nayer, Ranney
Ranney has had to figure out its attack after just about all of it graduated from 2021 and players like Nayer, junior Drew Buck and freshman Eddie Magherini have stepped up. Nayer already has a two-goal game, which came in a come-from-behind, 3-2, win over Calvary Christian, and he also scored the game-winning goal in a 2-1 win over Point Beach.
Class B Central Honorable Mention: Drew Buck, Ranney; Dev Nayer, Ranney; Josh Boyan, Point Beach; Eddie Magherini, Ranney; Cody Monticello, Point Beach; Bennett Mayer, Point Beach; Isiah Taylor, St. Rose
Class B South Player of the Week
John Witkowski, Point Boro
Point Boro is one of three Shore Conference teams to enter this week 5-0, joining Howell and Holmdel. The Panthers have had a whole litany of contributors, but its breakout scorer during the 5-0 start has been Witkowski, who has seven goals so far. The junior scored the first goal of the season in a big win over Lacey, then delivered a hat trick two days later in a rout of Brick. After going scoreless in a win over Lakewood, Witkowski bounced back with both goals in a 2-0 win over Pinelands, then another goal in a statement win over Rumson.
Class B South Honorable Mention: Julian Marfino, Barnegat; Leo Chamorro, Barnegat; Conor Yurgel, Jackson Liberty; Joey Kurak, Manchester; Matteo Pasqualichio, Lacey; Flavio Garista, Lakewood; Lucas Holland, Barnegat; Jared Elliott, Point Boro; Jim Cappucci, Point Boro; Gerard Cerino, Point Boro; Muberaq Aderogba, Manchester
Wild Cards
Kenny Caruso, Toms River South
The Indians have won three straight to open the season and Caruso has scored in each of their wins. He scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Central in the season-opener, then scored two in a 4-2 win over Southern. Caruso then made it three games in a row with a goal by scoring the first of Toms River South’s seven goals in a blowout win over Brick.
Jayson Nardone, Brick
While Brick has had trouble keeping the ball out of its net, it also has one of the more automatic scorers in the Shore Conference. Nardone has scored five of Brick’s six goals this year, including two games with two goals. One of those two-goal games came in Brick’s lone win – a 2-1, overtime victory over Shore in which Nardone finished off the win with a golden goal.
More From Shore Sports Network
