Boys Soccer Preview

Source: The Bergen Record

Wayne Valley: The Indians are coming off a season in which they won their third Passaic County title in four years. They expect to be in the hunt again with eight varsity starters returning from last year. Wayne Valley is particularly strong in the midfield with seniors Dan Bellet, Mark Lucci and Christian Gonzalez going into their third varsity seasons. The scoring will have to be spread around with the graduation of Jason Rosenberg. Joey Eilert was also a key loss to graduation. "Our backs are very strong as well, so we're going to try to possess the ball and spread it around until we get an opportunity to score," Kilday said. The team is still going to have to find a way to score more goals, but the experience the Indians bring back will go a long way to making them a team that will contend to repeat as the County champ. Click here to read more.

Wayne Hills: The Patriots will have their work cut out for them after graduating nine starters from the team that tied Wayne Valley for the first and only NJTCC Division 1 title last season. The biggest loss is on defense where the Patriots lost their goalkeeper and back line. "We’re going to struggle," Graham said. There is some offense where senior Evan Baum, who has a good shot from the outside, and speedy Maz Zager return in the midfield. Senior Justin Baleuski scored 20 goals on the JV level last season. Graham believes that a good team relies on strength in the back and will look to build a defense that can gel by midseason. Senior Max Seidaman takes over in goal after a year playing behind Mike Diduch. "He’s talented and appears dedicated to becoming a better goalkeeper," Graham said. The Patriots are working to remain above .500 while playing against some of the top teams in North Jersey. Click here to read more.

DePaul: The Spartans return several key players from last year's team and will hope to contend for the Passaic County title. "Anything less than a County final would be very disappointing," Beneventine said. DePaul is led by senior goalkeeper Steven Beneventine Jr., who had eight shutouts last season and a 1.6 goals against average. The Spartans also return all four starters in their back line. Offense will also be a strength with junior forwards Erblin Ramini (19 goals, nine assists ) and Steve Siri (15 goals, nine assists) and midfielder Nicola Mariella (seven goals, 13 assists). Expectations are high with good reason. Click here to read more