Nutley HS boys soccer team kicking up winning ways

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NUTLEY, NJ — The Nutley High School boys soccer team, featuring a mix of seniors and talented underclassmen, has enjoyed a strong season this fall.

The Raiders, under the guidance of head coach Sal Melillo, boasted a 5-3-3 overall record, 2-2-1 in the Super Essex Conference–Colonial Division, through Wednesday, Oct. 1.

They were unbeaten in their first six games, including tying perennial power Kearny 2-2 on Saturday, Sept. 13, at Kearny. After losing at Verona 2-1, the Raiders then tied perennial power Seton Hall Prep 1-1 on Friday, Sept. 19, in West Orange. SHP was ranked No. 6 in the state.

In all, the Raiders have 14 seniors on the roster. Melillo has been impressed by his team’s efforts.

“We have a large senior class, but have a lot of underclassmen contributing every day. We’re Year 5 into my style of coaching and the buy-in is tremendous,” Melillo said. “The boys have put out a great product so far this year.”

The Raiders are looking to develop and, more importantly, win plenty of games.

“The goal is the same every game, every season – win. All I expect of them is to grow as players and well-rounded individuals every day,” Melillo said.

“Whether showing respect to the coaching staff or to a complete stranger, we want the reputation of the boys program to be that of character, on and off the field.”

Melillo wants his players to have a never-say-die mentality, especially since they compete in the Super Essex Conference.

“The SEC might be the toughest conference in the state and you need resilience and grit to grind out a result every game,” Melillo said.

The Raiders want to keep getting better all season, particularly on the defensive end. “We lost some key pieces defensively, so it’s making sure we’re sound at the back,” Melillo said. “If we didn’t need to improve every day, we’d be sitting at the No. 1 spot in the nation. There’s always something to work on and the boys are constantly hungry for more.”

The players on the roster are goalkeeper Cameron Anderson, Kaiden Cerniglia-Rapavi, Mark Mattiazzi, Diego Sanchez, Patrick Sceppaguercio, Sebastian Stroczan, Sebastian Vieira, Jorge Emilio Zurita Ganity, Jayden Bollander, Adrian Rodriguez, Liam Schoch, Christopher Petit-Frere, Tsotne “Sammy” Buzariashvili, Finn Carney, Sebastian Henao, Anthony Navarro, Dominic Bollander, Juan Cabrejos, Mihail Mihaylova, Joseph DelTufo, Nathan Zerizghi, goalkeeper Nicolas Oramas and Sreeyan Bose.

The Raiders defeated Barringer 3-2 in overtime in the season-opener on Sept. 2 at Glotzbach Field in Nutley in an SEC crossover divisional game. Stroczan’s second goal of the game was the winner. Navarro had the other goal and Bose had an assist. Oramas made seven saves and Anderson made three saves.

The Raiders defeated rival Belleville 3-0 on Sept. 4 at Glotzbach Field in a SEC–Colonial Division game. Henao had two goals and one assist, while Navarro and Ganity each had an assist to key the victory. Oramas had four saves and Anderson recorded two saves.

The following are notable unofficial stats through Sept. 19:

Stroczan: 5 goals, 3 assists. Henao: 5 goals, 1 assist. Buzariashvili: 5 goals, 1 assist. Navarro: 2 goals, 5 assists.

NHS results