Photos by Rich Morris/courtesy of SHP.
PIrates (white uniforms) vs. Bergen Catholic, North Non-Public “A” semifinals, Nov. 7, at Brendan P. Tevlin Memorial Field.
Pirates (blue uniforms) vs. Delbarton, North Non-Public “A” final, Nov. 9, at Passaic County Tech in Wayne.
WEST ORANGE, NJ – The Seton Hall Prep varsity soccer team completed an outstanding season with a 21-3-1 record.
The second-seeded and defending champion Pirates lost to top-seeded Delbarton, 4-0, in the championship game of the NJSIAA North Jersey Non-Public “A” state tournament on Thursday, Nov. 9, at Passaic County Tech in Wayne to end the season.
After the game, SHP head coach Marty Berman said, “Delbarton has a lot of great players, and they won every individual battle. You can see their team quickness and skill.Twenty-one wins is the second most in school history. Obviously, we would have liked to add to that total tonight. Things happen, but this is a great (group of) guys, not only soccer players but a great group of young men. I couldn’t be more prouder of them.”
In the semifinals two days earlier, the Pirates defeated sixth-seeded Bergen Catholic, 3-0, at Brendan P. Tevlin Memorial Field.
The Pirates opened the scoring with 16:21 left when junior midfielder Brian Zimmermann scored on assists by freshman forward Lucas Ross and junior midfielder Jon Ned. They extended their lead to 2-0 just 1:46 into the second half when senior defenseman Jason Gomes volleyed home a corner kick by senior defenseman Adam Silva. They closed out the scoring when Ross scored on a header on assists by senior midfielder and West Orange resident Nick Kriak and Adam Silva with 2:17 left. They out-shot Bergen Catholic 8-2 and junior goalkeeper Liam Bertrand have two saves to record his 5th clean sheet of the season.
The Pirates this season won their sixth Super Essex Conference-American Division championship in the nine years of the conference. SHP also won their fifth Essex County Tournament championship.
SHP is ranked in the following polls:
TopDrawerSoccer. Com – #3 in New Jersey, #4 in the East Region, and #17 in the Fab 50 / National Poll
USA Today/ United Soccer Coaches – #6 Region III and also receiving votes in the Super 25/National Poll
News 12 – Varsity – #2 in New Jersey, and #2 in the Tri-State area
NJ.Com – #2 in New Jersey, #2 in Non-Public Group, and #1 in the Super Essex Conference.
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