Sayreville boys soccer not able to match last year's success
15-4 a year ago, Bombers are much younger in '07
BY RICHARD JEROME Staff Writer
It's been a bit of an up-and-down season so far for the Sayreville War Memorial High School boys soccer team, as coach Nick Cifelli's Bombers have compiled a 7-5 record. Respectable, but it does represent a slight comedown from last year's banner campaign, which saw the club go 15-4 and capture the Greater Middlesex Conference White Division title, the first soccer championship in the school's history. This fall, the mixed performance comes down to a matter of seasoning.

PHOTOS BY ANDREW MILLER staff Above left, Sayreville High School's Josh Rios tries unsuccessfully to squeeze a shot by Woodbridge High School goalkeeper Paul Zygmund during Sayreville's 3-1 victory in Woodbridge. Above right, Sayreville's Michael Batko (l) and Woodbridge's Dan Petro battle for an airborne ball during Sayreville's 3-1 win.

"We have 10 seniors, but only a few have varsity experience," says Cifelli, whose team played Old Bridge on Tuesday and meets Colonia today. "So far, our strength has been our passing. We've been moving the ball well, and our midfield is our most solid area."

The midfield contingent is paced by talented senior Matt Welna, a four-year varsity starter who leads the Bombers in assists. He may be the team's finest all-around player, and certainly serves as an anchor on the field.

"He's our go-to guy; everything goes through him," Cifelli says. Joining Welna in the midfield are junior Tinashe Muwola and seniors P.J. Gary and Michael Batko.

As for putting numbers on the board, Sayreville's leader is sophomore Kane Eze, who is one of the top scorers in the division and has 19 of the team's 28 goals, two of them in last week's 3-1 defeat of Woodbridge. It's no surprise that the 10th-grader is Sayreville's big gun, since he also led the squad in goals last year, when he tallied 16.

Also up front are seniors Luis Jiminez, who had the third goal in the Woodbridge victory, and Matt Colgan. The defense so far has been a tad inconsistent, and definitely one area where Cifelli would like to see some improvement.

"We'll be great in some games, as we were in our two shutouts, then we'll give up five goals, as we did against Monroe," the coach says.

The defensive unit includes senior sweeper Mike Weber, junior stopper Sean Musser, and on the outside, senior Ryan Reed, senior Chris Pokrywa and junior Scott Monaghan. In goal, the team has featured two players, senior Bryan Miksiewicz, who sustained a concussion after the first six games, and his replacement, junior Mitchell Pokrywa, who had four saves in the Woodbridge game.

Rounding out the Bomber squad are several substitutes, including midfielders Justin Sullivan, a junior, Kyle Santos, a freshman, and sophomore Joe Janela, and on the defensive side, Josh Rios.

Cifelli, a seventh-year mentor, is assisted by junior varsity coach Joe Goscienski and freshman boss Rich Gluchowski. Generally speaking, he's hoping that over the balance of the campaign, he'll see his team jell and develop a more consistent style of play.

"I'd like to see the defense step it up a notch," he says. "And our offense is missing far too many opportunities. Again, the midfield is solid. But it's frustrating that we've had four losses by one goal. So if the defense can cut down a goal and the offense can score another goal every game, we might come up with some more wins."