Columbia HS boys soccer to honor 1978 and 1979 state title teams on Friday, Oct. 25

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The Columbia High School boys soccer program will honor its back-to-back Group 4 state championship teams from 1978 and 1979 during its “Legends of the Fall” game on Friday night, Oct. 25, against Union at Underhill Field. The game begins at 7 p.m.

Members of those state title teams will be honored at halftime. Those teams included Division 1 players and All-Americans. Some of them became coaches, including current St. John’s University men’s soccer coach Dave Masur, who guided St. John’s to the 1996 Division 1 national championship.

The 1978 team went 22-1-1, beating Union in the sectional final, Kearny in the North final and Brick, 3-1, in the state final at Giant Stadium.

The following year, the Cougars finished 24-0-2, beating Bloomfield in the county final, Scotch Plains in the sectional final, Ridgewood in the North final and Neptune in the state final.

The CHS teams were under the guidance of Gene Chyzowych, who coached the Cougars for 50 seasons from 1964 to 2013, compiling 757 victories, which ranked third nationally. Chyzowych stepped down after a few games into the 2013 season while battling cancer. He died in May 2014 at the age of 79.