Rams looking to make strong postseason push
BY RICHARD JEROME
Staff Writer

The South River High School boys soccer team is 4-6 after Tuesday's narrow win over Highland Park.

That isn't quite the record head coach Eric Clays would like, perhaps, but still within striking distance of the Rams' central goal, which is to have at least a .500 record by the state tournament cutoff date (Oct. 20), so they can qualify for the Central Jersey Group I competition.

Yesterday, South River ran into a daunting obstacle, however, facing undefeated John F. Kennedy of Iselin.

"We have a lot of new guys on the team, along with some returning," explains Clays. "We've been passing well so far, but I think our greatest asset has been the rate of improvement in our quality of play since the beginning of the season. In some of the games we lost, I think we've actually outplayed some of our opponents."

The Rams didn't lose in their tilt on Tuesday afternoon, playing against the now 3-4 Owls, their rivals in the Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division. Leading the scoring for South River were Andre Mitev and Aaron Daley, who picked up a goal apiece, as the Rams booted 22 shots on goal to Highland Park's 14. SRHS goalkeeper Brian Estrafalhote proved a formidable obstacle to the Owl offense, coming up with 13 saves.

That victory certainly helped take some of the sting out of last Friday's 2-1 loss to a very strong Spotswood High School team, in which the Chargers, behind 1-0, came up with a pair of goals to ice the contest. Prior to that, last Wednesday, the Rams overwhelmed Carteret High School, besting the Ramblers 7-2, with Daley enjoying a big game, registering a pair of goals and assists each. In that game, the South River's passing game was at its best, accounting for seven assists to match the seven tallies.

Overall, aside from Daley, one of the mainstays of the Rams' offense this season has been junior forward Carlos Debrito, whom Clays praises highly.

"He not only passes well and scores some goals for us, but he's just a great kid," notes the coach.

Another scoring threat has been senior left midfielder Justin Davis. Joining him in the midfield are junior Andrew Diaz, on the right, and in the center, the two Csombok brothers, Csaba, a senior, and sophomore Fabian. As for the stopperbacks, Clays has senior Cliph Hernandez and Eric Perkin, also a 12th-grader. Junior Manny Martins is one of the backs, playing on the right side, along with senior Victor Lopez, who is on the left, and in the center slot, Daley.

Looking over the other varsity players, South River has a bit of depth, with several sophomores, including Magdy and Zack Assawi and Dan Andre, as well as Cirolos Geid and midfielder Jeffrey Fernandez. Also in the picture is a senior, Luis Clemente.

Clays has nothing but praise for his kids, who clearly have an outstanding work ethic.

"We got off to a slow start this year," he said. "But now, with this day-by-day improvement, I'm optimistic that we're going to make the state playoffs, and continue to progress as the season goes on. One of the things that's helping us is that we're getting some good play from our seniors, who are providing some excellent leadership, and we're also seeing some kids who are playing through injuries."

Clays also has kind words for his assistant coaches, Raphael Rocha and Don Minto, and is also careful to cite his volunteer scorekeepers, a trio of girls including Lily Durado, Annabelle Pedreiro and her sister, Emily.

Notes... While South River still has plenty of work to do if the Rams hope to qualify for the postseason, the Old Bridge Rams find themselves in a similar position.

Rich Mould's Rams got a huge win on Saturday when they handed second-ranked South Brunswick its first loss of the year, 3-2, as senior forward Matt Fitzgerald notched a pair of goals, including the game-winner, while goalie Jeff Bruno was strong in net, making 10 saves on the day.

With the win, Old Bridge improved to 3-4-2 on the season as the Oct. 20 state playoff deadline approaches. Playing a difficult Red Division schedule will certainly make things difficult for the Rams, but as they proved on Saturday, they are certainly capable of playing with the best the GMC has to offer.

The remainder of the local boys team appear poised to qualify for both the GMC and state tournaments, as they are all having stellar seasons.

East Brunswick's boys are 6-3-1 on the year, just one game back of Red Division-leading South Brunswick in the standings. Those two teams will meet on Tuesday in East Brunswick in a game that may decide the division title.

The Sayreville Bombers entered the week tied with top-ranked North Brunswick atop the White Division standings. Both teams are 7-1 at this point in the year, with the Bombers having handed the Raiders their only loss of the year last week. Sayreville then came back to beat the No. 2-ranked team in the GMC, 1-0, just days later, and have emerged as one of the elite teams in the conference. Their only loss came on opening day - a 4-1 loss to Monroe.

The Falcons improved to 9-2 with an 8-0 blanking of South Plainfield on Saturday, and entered the week just one game behind both Sayreville and North Brunswick in the division standings. They will need to win out and get some help in order to capture even a share of the division title this fall.

The Spotswood Chargers improved to 7-1-1 with a 4-1 win over Timothy Christian on Tuesday, and find themselves just one game back of both Metuchen and J.F. Kennedy in the Blue Division standings.

All of the local girls teams appear are in good position to qualify for the postseason, although Old Bridge (5-5) and South River (5-6) have to play well down the stretch to cement their spots.

East Brunswick appears to be on its way to yet another Red Division title, racing out to an 8-2 start (6-0 in the division), with Old Bridge two games back in second place.

Monroe, at 7-2 entering Friday's game with Colonia, is two games back of top-ranked Woodbridge in the White Division race. Woodbridge and North Brunswick (7-2) squared off yesterday in an important divisional game, while Sayreville (5-3) is another White Division team that is playing well down the stretch.

Spotswood, at 5-2 entering the week, finds itself in the middle of the Blue Division pack, but appears to be well on its way to another postseason.