It is still summer, but autumn sports are beginning to enter the picture.
Here are some events that you can check out while waiting for the arrival of the fall season.
The high school football season is a few weeks away from its official start, but there are some attractive scrimmages coming up.
On Aug. 19, last year’s Central Jersey, Group II state sectional playoff winner, Raritan, visits a state playoff participant, Middletown North, for a 10 a.m. kick off.
Red Bank Regional, coming off its best season in more than two decades, visits West Long Branch to take on a traditional winner, Shore Regional, at 10 a.m.
On Aug. 20, host Woodbridge and Bishop Ahr tangle in a quad scrimmage that starts at 10 am.
On Aug. 22 at the Count Basie Field in Red Bank, two of the state’s power programs, Manalapan and Red Bank Catholic, make the first hits towards what they hope are championship seasons. Game time is 10 a.m.
If you don’t mind a long travel, you can get your first look at last year’s No. 1 team in New Jersey, Middletown South, when the Eagles fly to Bergen County’s Montvale to tackle another state heavyweight, St. Joseph, on Aug. 22 at 11 a.m.
On to the soccer pitch….
Monmouth University’s women’s soccer team plays its home opener on Aug. 22 against Lehigh University on Team Impact Night. The match on the Great Lawn starts at 7 p.m. The Hawks are picked to win the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference title this fall.
The nationally-ranked Monmouth University men’s soccer team closes out the pre-season schedule at home against Temple at 7 p.m. on Aug. 20 on the Great Lawn.
The Hawks open the 2016 season on Aug. 26 at home against Denver University (7 p.m.).
Brookdale Community College’s women’s soccer team made history last fall when the squad became the first team to win three straight National Junior College Athletic Association Division III national championships. The Hawks seek No. 4 this year and it starts with their first pre-season scrimmage on Aug. 18 against Bloomfield College in Lincroft. Start time is 2 p.m.
The BCC women are also home on Aug. 20 at 9 a.m. for the team’s final scrimmage against Rutgers Newark.
