Belleville HS boys soccer team boasts strong returning nucleus

Joe Ragozzino September 4, 2026 4 minutes read

BELLEVILLE — The Belleville High School boys soccer team hopes to have a successful season, returning a good nucleus.

“We have a strong group of returning players that I’m excited to watch this season, each of whom will play an important role in what we hope to accomplish,” BHS head coach Joseph Pontoriero, whose team finished with five wins and one draw a year ago.

Here are the key returning players to watch, with comments from Pontoriero:

Nicolas Cooper (goalkeeper, captain) – “Nicolas is the backbone of our team and one of our captains. He is our voice on the field and a tremendous leader. His presence in goal, communication, and leadership give our team confidence from the back.”

Kevin Escobar (senior, captain) – “Kevin has been part of our program for four years, and he is someone I have complete trust in. His versatility is extremely valuable because I know I can put him in just about any position on the field and count on him to do his job. His experience and leadership will be very important for us this season.”

Alex Pesantes (senior) – “Alex battled through injuries that caused him to miss his freshman and sophomore seasons, but he came back and put together a strong junior year. Now, as a senior, we are expecting him to take another step forward. I believe he can be a major contributor and an important part of what we want to accomplish this year.”

Javier Guaman (sophomore) – “Javier gained valuable varsity experience as a freshman, and I’m excited to see the growth he makes in his second season. He has a lot of potential, and we expect him to take on a larger role this year.”

Michael Rivera (senior) – “Michael returns to our program after competing in MLS NEXT and will be the heartbeat of our midfield. His experience, technical ability and understanding of the game will be extremely important to the way we want to play.”

Leo Vergara (junior) – “Leo also returns to our program after competing in MLS NEXT and will be a huge part of our attack. He brings quality and creativity going forward, and we expect him to play an important role in our offensive approach.”

Team outlook

“As a team, we are looking to build on last year’s campaign and continue moving the program forward. We have set high expectations for ourselves. Two of our biggest goals are to qualify for the state tournament and compete for the (Super Essex Conference) Independence Division championship.

“There are definitely a few games we have circled on the schedule, particularly Nutley and Bloomfield. Those rivalry games always bring a little extra energy and intensity, and they are the types of games our players look forward to playing. Ultimately, though, our focus is on improving throughout the season, competing every time we step on the field, and putting ourselves in a position to accomplish our goals.”

The Buccaneers are looking to bounce back from the 4-0 home loss to Verona on Sept. 1.

Here is the schedule:

Sept. 3: at Cedar Grove, 4 p.m.

Sept. 9: Newark Tech, 4 p.m.

Sept. 14: at Orange, 4 p.m.

Sept. 16: at Central, 4 p.m.

Sept. 23: Shabazz, 4 p.m.

Sept. 25: Passaic Arts, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 28: Payne Tech, 4 p.m.

Sept. 30: at East Orange, 4 p.m.

Oct. 2: at Irvington, 4 p.m.

Oct. 5: at Bloomfield, 6 p.m.