The North Brunswick Township High School boys’ soccer team will begin all over again.
North Brunswick will use that approach in an effort to replace 16 seniors, including eight starters, from a highly successful 2017 team.
North Brunswick posted a 16-5 record and advanced to the semifinal round of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament and gained a berth in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 4 state sectional tournament. The Raiders fell to East Brunswick High School in the first round of Central Jersey, Group 4.
“We lost our goalkeeper, a good portion of our backline, a good portion of our midfield. All across the board, pretty much,” said 11th-year North Brunswick coach Paul Liddy. “And the year before, we won the GMC. A lot of those seniors were part of that. It was just a real solid group of players that played together for a long time that we’re going to miss.”
Liddy is working on what his lineup will look like when the Raiders open their season on Sept. 6 against Edison High School.
He is fairly certain that North Brunswick’s three returning starters, senior midfielder Chris Scariano, senior back Derrick Audain and senior forward Zavier Hernandez, will have to carry the team in 2018, at least early in the season.
Liddy is confident in all three players.
“Scariano is a very good midfielder. He’s just got good vision, good technical ability. He can take players on off the dribble. He can be a playmaker and a guy who can score and get assists. He’s got all the tools necessary to play that position,” Liddy said. “Derrick is a very good defender, left-footed. He’s got good vision and makes good decisions. Just a solid all-around player. Zavier is very skillful and talented. We are looking to get a lot of production out of him this year, scoring and assists. He’s right next to Chris in terms of skills and technical ability. If we are going to score this year, he will probably have a say in that.”
Liddy is also excited about the players who may fill in the lineup around that big three. Junior forward Alusine Kamara played varsity as a freshman in 2016, but was injured for much of last season. Kamara scored five goals in 2016, and Liddy wants 15 from him this fall.
“We are hoping he can score some goals,” Liddy said. “He has the potential to.”
On the other end of the field, the Raiders have an interesting goalkeeper situation. Ali Karim started about half the games last year, but sophomore Santiago Andino is playing high school soccer this year after playing for an academy in 2017.
“They are going to split in the scrimmages and they are both really good kids, hard workers. They have different skill sets. Ali is a better shot stopper. Santiago probably reads the game a little better and is better with his feet and distribution,” Liddy said. “They are close. They’ll split in the preseason and then we’ll see what happens.”
In front of them, Justin Fisher, a high level club player, and Zach Kriegl, a first-year starter and captain, will anchor North Brunswick’s backline.
“Justin is one of our stronger players, no question,” Liddy said. “Zach is probably the most fit player on our team.”
Since Liddy actually has a lot of talent to work with, at the very least, North Brunswick will be intriguing in 2018.
“There are question marks but we do have good players,” Liddy said. “It’s just a matter of putting it all together.”
