By Warren Rappleyea
A stingy defense and possibly the best goalkeeper in the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) have helped propel North Brunswick Township High School’s boys’ soccer team to a 5-1-1 start.
The Raiders, who are tied for first place in the GMC White Division, have allowed just three goals against and are coming off successive shutout wins. North Brunswick’s lone loss came in overtime — a 2-1 decision against Edison High School on Sept. 20.
Coach Paul Liddy’s team quickly returned to form, besting Colonia High School, 4-0, Sep. 22 with four different players scoring goals and central midfielder Chris Martinez providing a pair of assists. The Raiders are coming off a 3-0 home win over Woodbridge High School Sept. 24, as striker Sam Mikhailov led the way with two goals and Isai Aguilar also found the net, while Pawel Dzielski kept a clean sheet by stopping six shots.
“Our defense has been pretty solid,” Liddy said. “We knew going in that would be our strength, and it’s been our No. 1 focus. Pawel Dzielski was an all-state player last year, and we have an experienced crew playing in front of him.”
Dzielski turned aside 175 shots a year ago, as the Raiders went 6-13 in a rebuilding year. He’s been equally good — if not better — this time around, as North Brunswick has posted five shutouts.
Veterans Hamza Kahn and Eric Goggin anchor the back line as central defenders. Kahn, who played the left side last season, is adept at moving the ball quickly, while Goggin became a starter early last fall after being called up from the junior varsity team. Junior Aldo Bautista distributes the ball well, and D.J. Cobb can join the attack from the outside with his speed. Both are juniors.
Martinez, a three-year starter, gives Liddy a valuable two-way presence in the middle of the field, where he is paired with Jeffrey Montoya and sophomore Bruno Andino, who has two goals to his credit. Mikhailov is the mainstay up front, where he leads the Raiders with four goals.
“We’re working to find the right combinations to attack, and fortunately everyone has been chipping in with a goal here or there,” Liddy said. “We’re still switching between two systems to find what is right for the team. With our defense, the plan was to get enough goals to get by in the early going and to become more offensive as the year goes on. It’s still a work in progress, but the players are getting more comfortable with each other.”
North Brunswick was scheduled to host Sayreville War Memorial High School Sept. 27, with South Plainfield High School coming to town Sept. 29. The Raiders will head to Carteret High School Oct. 1.
South Brunswick High School’s boys’ soccer team has won three straight matches to raise its record to 5-2.
Jared Budhu, Raam Chinnaya, Dylan Inguardi and Kumal Thakral all scored in a 4-2 win against John P. Stevens High School Sept. 24. Two days earlier, South Brunswick defeated Piscataway Township High School, 3-1, as Budhu, John Bohrer and Jake Stump all tallied.
On Sept. 20, goals by Thakral and Stump powered the Vikings to a 2-1 victory against Old Bridge High School.
Football
On the gridiron, South Brunswick fell to an uncharacteristic 1-2 after dropping a 26-14 decision to Piscataway Sept. 23.
The visiting Chiefs jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter, and it would stay that way into the intermission. South Brunswick had an opportunity to cut the lead in the second quarter with a first-and-goal from the Piscataway 7-yard line. On fourth-and-2, the Viking tried a quarterback option play that came up short.
“We gave up a touchdown on the second play of the game on a blown coverage, and they scored again to put us further in the hole,” Vikings coach Joe Goerge said. “Then they stopped us at the goal line.”
South Brunswick kicked off to open the second half and quickly forced a Piscataway punt. The Vikings responded with a 60-yard touchdown drive to make it 12-7, as Josh Liao found Jaylan Lawson for an 11-yard scoring pass, and the momentum seemed to turn.
Just two plays later, Piscataway got a momentum-changing play when Elijah Barnwell took a handoff and raced 63 yards to make the score 20-7. Early in the fourth, Liao was intercepted by Brevin Donerson, who returned the ball 15 yards to put the game out of reach.
“They’re good,” George said of Piscataway. “We made some mistakes, and you just can’t get away with that against a good team. We made a big stop, came down and scored, and they answered.”
South Brunswick will look to even its record when a much-improved Edison team comes to town Sept. 30. The Eagles were off last week after dropping a squeaker to Sayreville, 18-13, Sept. 16. Previously, Edison downed Monroe Township High School, 40-14.
“Edison is another good team,” Goerge said. “All the young guys they have been playing are seniors now. They’re definitely improved. It’s going to be a dog fight. I told our guys we’re going to be playing those types of games the rest of the season.”
Girls volleyball
North Brunswick won its last two matches on the volleyball court.
On Sept. 21, the Raiders took a 2-0 (28-26, 25-18) decision over Piscataway. Renee Hales had four aces and two kills in the win, and Anun Khan added four kills. The previous day, Bianca Brown posted three kills and a block and Hales had eight aces in a 2-0 (25-25, 25-4) triumph over Highland Park High School.
After scoring wins over Edison and Perth Amboy High School earlier in the week, South Brunswick’s girls’ volleyball team lost to Montgomery High School, 2-0 (23-25, 19-25), Sept. 24 despite seven kills from Jaime Klemas and 15 digs by Nina Trach.
South Brunswick dropped a 2-0 (18-25, 26-28) decision against East Brunswick High School Sept. 22. Kelly Matuszewski had seven kills and a pair of digs in the loss.
Brianna Newsom led the way with nine kills, two blocks and three digs in the win over Edison, while Sariyah Muschette posted four kills in a victory against Perth Amboy.
