Living Up to the Title
As may have noticed, this is now the "Boys Soccer Blog," and with the season starting in two weeks, there's a lot to talk about around the Shore Conference. Let's get to what's I my mind.
I caught the tail-end of the Toms River East-Monsignor Donovan scrimmage on Friday morning after taking care of some football coverage for the upcoming preview issue. Toms River scored an early goal and won 1-0, but that's not really what I or any coach was looking for Friday. I was more intersted in seeing what each team had and hearing what Ken Oliver (Mon Don) and Ted Gillen (TRE) had to say.
Mon Don has some issues in the back, as Oliver eluded to when I asked him what he was looking to improve over the next couple weeks. The defense didn't give up any goals while I was wathcing, but they gave up some good looks to a relatively inexperienced TR East team. The Griffins' Kyle Milana is a top-notch sweeper, but when he was out of the game, TR East had a much easier time possessing the ball near Mon Don's goal.
The defensive can certainly fix itself, and if it does, Mon Don is dangerous. Not only do they return players up front from last year's team, but they return good ones. Derrek Thompson-Sevcik (forward), Brian Thomsen, Tim Hojnacki, and Nick Chiarella (all mids.) are going to be part of a lot of goals, and if the defense gets up to speed, the Donnies are going to win B South. No one can match their offensive fire power, but you gotta get some stops to win games, so keep an eye on that.
TR East is an interesting team. They lost nine starters but if anyone watched them last year, I'm sure you get the same feeling as I do when I look at them. They seem like they are going to become a CBA-like program that, even when they are down, they just figure things out anyway. Gillen is a terrific coach and in just two full seasons has become one of the most respected coaches in the Shore. They missed some opportunities to score, but the way they possessed and moved the ball, you would have thought the Raiders were playing in October (if not for the warm weather).
Oliver said something interesting about East. He said that last year, he wasn't blown away after Mon Don scrimmaged TR East, but they turned out to be one of the top four teams in the Shore. This year, while he didn't say that he "wasn't blown away," he seemed to imply that again, East may not seem like much, but they are well-coached, smart players. In addition, Brandon Zeller in the midfield should breakout now that he is the man, something last-year's well-balanced club didn't have.
All-in-all, no surprises here. Donovan and Lakewood are similar in that most of their returning talent is up front, so they'll face similar challenges in trying to win B South. Mon Don's scorer's are a little better, so I'd handicap them as the favorites so far.
As for East, well, it's hard to say. Toms River North has that dynamite JV team moving up to varsity, a la D3: The Worst of the Mighty Ducks (Title?), and I would say that's the x-factor in the division. If the kids are alright, North is going to be tough to beat. Jackson shouldn't have the growing pains and will be tough to beat anyway. The Raiders need to get some experience, much like North last year before they got hot. North took some lumps early, and if TRE avoids some of those lumps, they'll be in the hunt.
I'll be starting the division previews at the end of next week on either Thursday or Friday, depending on two things: 1) the number of rosters I get from various coaches, and 2) how preoccupied I am with the Rutgers football season opener on Thursday. Until then, feel free to add whatever you have. More to come as we move into the last week of August.
I caught the tail-end of the Toms River East-Monsignor Donovan scrimmage on Friday morning after taking care of some football coverage for the upcoming preview issue. Toms River scored an early goal and won 1-0, but that's not really what I or any coach was looking for Friday. I was more intersted in seeing what each team had and hearing what Ken Oliver (Mon Don) and Ted Gillen (TRE) had to say.
Mon Don has some issues in the back, as Oliver eluded to when I asked him what he was looking to improve over the next couple weeks. The defense didn't give up any goals while I was wathcing, but they gave up some good looks to a relatively inexperienced TR East team. The Griffins' Kyle Milana is a top-notch sweeper, but when he was out of the game, TR East had a much easier time possessing the ball near Mon Don's goal.
The defensive can certainly fix itself, and if it does, Mon Don is dangerous. Not only do they return players up front from last year's team, but they return good ones. Derrek Thompson-Sevcik (forward), Brian Thomsen, Tim Hojnacki, and Nick Chiarella (all mids.) are going to be part of a lot of goals, and if the defense gets up to speed, the Donnies are going to win B South. No one can match their offensive fire power, but you gotta get some stops to win games, so keep an eye on that.
TR East is an interesting team. They lost nine starters but if anyone watched them last year, I'm sure you get the same feeling as I do when I look at them. They seem like they are going to become a CBA-like program that, even when they are down, they just figure things out anyway. Gillen is a terrific coach and in just two full seasons has become one of the most respected coaches in the Shore. They missed some opportunities to score, but the way they possessed and moved the ball, you would have thought the Raiders were playing in October (if not for the warm weather).
Oliver said something interesting about East. He said that last year, he wasn't blown away after Mon Don scrimmaged TR East, but they turned out to be one of the top four teams in the Shore. This year, while he didn't say that he "wasn't blown away," he seemed to imply that again, East may not seem like much, but they are well-coached, smart players. In addition, Brandon Zeller in the midfield should breakout now that he is the man, something last-year's well-balanced club didn't have.
All-in-all, no surprises here. Donovan and Lakewood are similar in that most of their returning talent is up front, so they'll face similar challenges in trying to win B South. Mon Don's scorer's are a little better, so I'd handicap them as the favorites so far.
As for East, well, it's hard to say. Toms River North has that dynamite JV team moving up to varsity, a la D3: The Worst of the Mighty Ducks (Title?), and I would say that's the x-factor in the division. If the kids are alright, North is going to be tough to beat. Jackson shouldn't have the growing pains and will be tough to beat anyway. The Raiders need to get some experience, much like North last year before they got hot. North took some lumps early, and if TRE avoids some of those lumps, they'll be in the hunt.
I'll be starting the division previews at the end of next week on either Thursday or Friday, depending on two things: 1) the number of rosters I get from various coaches, and 2) how preoccupied I am with the Rutgers football season opener on Thursday. Until then, feel free to add whatever you have. More to come as we move into the last week of August.
posted by Matt Manley at 8:11 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home