Patriots look to maintain winning ways in soccer

BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

Teams don’t develop tradition over night. It takes years of continued success for a sports program to reach the level where winning is not just anticipated, but expected.

That is Jesse Renna’s goal for the Freehold Township boys soccer team, and the 2004 season is a pretty good indicator that he has the Patriots on that path.

Last year at this time, the senior-laden Patriots needed a wake-up call at midseason just to make the postseason. Once there, the Pats pulled off a string of upsets and reached the Central Jersey Group IV final.

Odds for repeat in ’04, however, seemed remote, with graduation and star power hitting the team very hard.

“We lost six starters, including two first team All-Shore players, Greg Hartlein and Kevin O’Conner, who are playing Division I ball at Rutgers and Drexel,” Renna remarked. “We took a big hit losing three of our four fullbacks and three of our four midfielders.”

Yet, Freehold Township has a better record at this point of the season than last fall (6-3-1). Renna attributes it to the carry-over from last November, and the work his players did in the off-season.

“We had a good taste of success last year and they want to get back to that level,” noted Renna. “They want to get back to the playoffs.

“We have some great athletes on the team who have stepped in,” he added. “They’ve all improved.”

Led by its nucleus of returning starters, led by goalie A.J. Hamami, center midfielder Bryan Allman and fullback Mike Hennessy, the Patriots have been a very cohesive unit, playing well on both ends of the field.

Hamami, still just a junior, already has five shutouts, and Hennessy is the cornerstone of a rebuilt defense. Allman is the player who makes it all work. He has five goals and four assists this year and is the player most effective at the transition game.

Mike Tepedino, who moved from outside midfielder to sweeper back, has helped sure up a defense that had only Hennessy returning.

Forward Vinne Verderosa is leading the team in goals scored with seven goals.

All the returners are seniors, save Hamami.

“You have to have veteran experience,” said Renna. “Our seniors have been a very positive influence. They are a very nice corp.”

Three sophomores, Brian Cooney, Chris Antice and Chris Belan have become mainstays. Cooney, who plays center midfield with Allman and Antice, an outside fullback, are starters and Belan is providing important minutes as a sub.

Renna pointed out that he saw potential in his sophomores last year. They returned as much improved players, ready to step up to varsity.

“The program is about competition,” he said. “They’ve fought for spots on the team. Having competition on the team helps everyone elevate their game.”

Dave Vaz and Jody Smith, who both saw playing time last year, have become tough marking backs and a big reason that Freehold Township has been able to rebuild its defense.

With six new starters, Renna admits that the team has jelled a little quicker than he had anticipated and the reason, his players understand the team concept.

“They know that they need to play together and play smart, disciplined individual and team defense, and they understand how to attack other teams,” he explained. “We play a possession game. We look to open up the field and create space, play the correct ball and be creative.”

That creativity has been important for the Patriot offense. They are multidimensional.

“We have variety of ways to attack,” said Renna. “We give teams different looks and we have some balance.”

The future is bright at Freehold Township based on the subvarsity programs. Last year’s freshman team put three players on this year’s team making significant contributions. The Patriot freshmen have an outstanding team again this year. The frosh have only dropped one match all year and have players who will likely challenge for playing time next year.

That’s how traditions are built, winning at all levels.

For now though, the concentration is No. 1 for the rest of the regular season and getting as good a seed as the team can for the Shore Conference and Central Jersey tournaments.

Last year, Freehold Township didn’t have one home game during its run to the sectional final. Its looking to change that this time around.