IS THE PUZZLE SOLVED?
October 20th, 2007
St. Benedict's has always had a knack for striking when the opposition is at its most vulnerable.
But this year, that assassin's instinct seemed ominously missing.
On Saturday night, however, St. Benedict's may have found the final piece to putting it all together.
Strike-ability!
It's a trademark which has been so much a part of the St. Benedict's mystique over the years. It finally came to fruition in a hotly contested battle when the Gray Bees scored twice in a 90-second span en route to a 3-0 victory over Walt Whitman High of Maryland.
"Scoring back-to-back goals that quick was big," said Marco Zanfardino. "I think it hit them hard. But I think even more importantly, it really calmed us down and let us play our game."
St. Benedict's (10-4-1), which ran its unbeaten skein to seven games, opened the scoring on a Jossimar Sanchez to Walter Rodriguez strike. Sanchez sent a long service from the midfield some 50 yards to Rodriguez.
Rodriguez took the ball out of the air 25 yards from the goal, took a few touches into the box and cracked a shot from the penalty stripe that found the net. It snapped a scoreless standoff at 15:15.
What happened next was a warm and eagerly awaited welcome for the St. Benedict's coaching staff.
Just 90 seconds later, Marc Cintron fed Giovanni Bonilla along the right side of the box. Bonilla cut into the penalty area box and quickly unloaded a shot into the net.
Just like that: St. Benedict's 2, Walt Whitman 0.
Not only did the quick strikes dampen the spirit of Walt Whitman (9-4-1), it stunned the partisan crowd in Bethesda, Md.
Benedict's wrapped up the victory with J.P. Rosero's 68th-minute goal. Goalkeeper Brandon Paul notched his ninth shutout of the year by turning aside five shots.
Notes: St. Benedict's will have a chance to show just far it has come since its topsy-turvy, 4-4, start to the season. On tap, is a date Wednesday night in Ramsey against Don Bosco Prep, currently the No. 2-ranked team in New Jersey.
"We haven't proved ourselves against New Jersey's best yet," said Zanfardino, the co-captain who has seen his team lose to No. 1 Delbarton and 11th-ranked Millburn. "We need to let people in Jersey know St. Benedict's is still here."
SANCHEZ, DEFENSE COMES UP BIG AGAIN!!
Oct. 17, 2007
Jossimar Sanchez just wants to score.
In all likelihood, he probably won’t.
So Sanchez, a junior marking back, has to get just as much solace from preventing the opposition from doing what he aspires.
Such was the case Wednesday when Sanchez led another staunch defensive effort and even ignited a counter that led to a crucial second goal when St. Benedict’s rolled to its third straight whitewash with a 3-0 victory over Lawrenceville.
The victory, which came on the heels of a four-goal victory over Vernon on Monday night, extended St. Benedict’s unbeaten streak to a modest six games. Five of those contests were shutouts, while the only goal scored against the Gray Bees during its current run came via a penalty kick.
"Sure, I would love to score. But my priority is to defend and I will do that to the best of my ability," said Sanchez. "I take it personally when another teams scores on us. It’s our job not to allow it to happen."
Although the defense hasn’t been pressured too much as of late, when it is, Sanchez and company are equal to the task.
The defense came up huge in the second half, particularly goalkeeper Brandon Paul. With the Gray Bees clinging to a 1-0 lead on Marc Cintron’s 20th-minute goal, Paul came charging out and, with total disregard for his body, made a diving save off a shot from point-blank range to preserve the one-goal cushion.
Sanchez then blew up an attack by Lawrenceville only two minutes later by swiping a pass and carrying the ball through the midfield. He uncorked a long serve downfield to a Cintron, who worked a give-and-go with Walter Rodriguez.
Cintron received the return pass and buried a shot inside the right post to give St. Benedict’s (9-4-1) an all important two-goal edge. The score, although not statistically marked down in Sanchez’ name, was a direct result of his heady defensive effort.
"It’s very rewarding when something like that happens," said Sanchez. "I’m just glad I was there and able to get the ball where it needed to be."
Sanchez was aptly aided in the back again by Paul, a junior, who snared the ball out of the air on another close call later in the match, Bryan Gallego and John Sandoval.
Gallego, a freshman, is playing more like a seasoned veteran with every outing at center back. Sandoval, a junior, continues his aggressive marking even when the outcome is no longer is a doubt, like he did against Lawrenceville with some hard tackles after the final goal was tallied by Austin Gordon.
NOTES: In the Gray Bees 3-0 victory over Vernon on Monday night, Walter Rodriguez scored twice and assisted on two other scores, while Marco Zanfardino and John Agudelo chipped in with one goal apiece in Sussex County. Rodriguez, a junior attacker, added two assists against Lawrenceville to bring his total over the last six games to 14 points (five goals and four assists).
--By Ron Jandoli
YOUNGSTERS HANGING TOUGH
October 10, 2007
With as many as nine underclassmen patrolling the field at any given time this season, the St. Benedict’s soccer team has suffered through many growing pains.
On Wednesday, however, the Gray Bees put together an effort that showed they are coming of age with a hard-fought, 2-1, victory over The Hun School in Princeton.
St. Benedict’s (7-4), reeled off its third straight success with a gutsy performance over a Hun team that not only matched the Gray Bees’ speed, but had an advantage in size. Hun had also come into the contest beaming with confidence after playing toe-to-toe during a one-goal setback to Delbarton, the same team who had defeated Benedict’s, 3-0, earlier in the year.
The Gray Bees took whatever was thrown at them, countered with the first two goals while standing steadfast and coming away with a quality victory.
“It’s the first time all year that I thought they reached down deep and really dug in,” St. Benedict’s coach Rick Jacobs said. “My guys realized the game that was being presented in front of them and managed it the way I would expect a good team would.”
A rare kudos from coach Jacobs, who’s been befuddled with trying to come up with the right remedy all season. It is unbeknownst if this team, which played its heart out, will be the one to finish the topsy-turvy season off, but it is clearly one that won’t go down without a fight.
It was a great display of wills – from the marking of junior Jossimar Sanchez on one of the best attackers in the state (Hun’s John Gianis) to the tireless showing by junior Jon Sandoval and freshman Bryan Gallego in the back.
“We’re very young in the back, but gaining a ton experience every game,’’ said goalkeeper Brandon Paul, who had to make only two saves, but maintained the sanity in his own penalty area throughout the contest. ``It was the type of game we had to stay focus for every second.”
St. Benedict’s, despite having a great deal of trouble on controlling the ball on the horrendous field with choppy clumps of grass throughout, managed to strike first on its only real opportunity on goal the entire first half.
The Gray Bees were awarded a free kick just outside the box and just as it did last game, managed to find the net on the opportunity. John Agudelo touched the ball slightly to his side before Marc Cintron ran onto the ball and cracked a right-footed shot that found the upper right corner of the goal.
J.P. Rosero made his mark almost as soon as he appeared in the contest after the halftime break. He played a perfect ball deep into the right corner to Mike Stalker. Stalker returned the favor with a driving cross that Rosero turned into a beautiful goal off a diving header.
The game was far from over though. Hun (8-3) cut the deficit in half two minutes later on a penalty kick. But St. Benedict’s kept the margin as it was with a tenacious defensive effort the rest of the way.
“I’m proud of the way we performed today,’’ Jacobs said. ``It was a team effort that got the job done.”
--Ron Jandoli
COMING TOGETHER
October 6, 2007
The pieces are finally falling into place for the St. Benedict’s soccer team.
And the biggest reason – Walter Rodriguez.
The speedy and diminutive Rodriguez, who has played any role asked of by his coaches, has been a consummate performer throughout the season and Saturday afternoon was no different.
Rodriguez, a junior who has spent a great deal of his time in the midfield, was slotted in up front for the second straight outing and parlayed his technical flare into a pair of scores in a 2-0 victory over Pennsylvania’s Strath Haven in Hoboken.
“He’s played in a couple of different spots for us,” St. Benedict’s coach Rick Jacobs said. “But it doesn’t make a difference. He’s the engine that makes us go game-in and game-out and right now is spot on.”
Rodriguez is particularly dangerous playing on Field Turf as he has in the last two outings. His deft touch made him practically unstoppable last Wednesday when he scored once in a 2-0 victory over Germantown (Pa.) on the artificial surface at Rutgers Newark. He continued his flashy play Saturday on the fake surface at Stevens Tech.
The first goal for Rodriguez came with only 10 seconds left in the opening half. Marc Cintron was taken down along the top, right-edge of the box, which set up a free kick.
John Agudelo touched the ball back and toward the middle of the field where Rodriguez hit a left-footed shot. The ball seared the top of the turf before finding its way around the defending wall and buried just inside the right post.
The timing of the goal seemed to relax the entire Gray Bees side – from coaches down to the last man on the bench – and from there, it was all Benedict’s.
The second goal took shape just four minutes after intermission. Chris Curley went down with an injury at the top of the Strath Haven box as the ball was being cleared. But, instead of stopping play, the Gray Bees got a turnover and continued on the counter.
The play came right back and past a felled Curley as the Strath Haven defense seemed to be waiting for a whistle due to the injury. The ball eventually found its way through to Agudelo, who crossed it to the left where Rodriguez beat the goalkeeper to the ball and touched in his second goal.
Curley, meanwhile, got back to his feet unscathed after the goal. He was seeing his first action after a five-game layoff due to a leg injury and put forth an adequate effort despite showing signs of wearing down due to lack of fitness.
St. Benedict’s (6-4) kept the pressure up against Strath Haven (7-5-1) for the rest of the contest, posting a 12-4 advantage in shots. The defense was solid again with its tight man-on marking led by junior Jossimar Sanchez and the continually improving freshman, Bryan Gallego, directing from his center back spot. Junior goalkeeper Brandon Paul had to make only one stop the entire contest.
“The guys are starting to have more fun instead of worrying about losing,” senior captain Marco Zanfardino said. “Our defense throughout the field is more spirited and that takes a lot of the pressure off the rest of our game.”
--By Ron Jandoli
A MUCH-NEEDED VICTORY
October 3, 2007
The scoring drought is history for the St. Benedict’s soccer team.
But the concern over its Achilles heel is not.
The Gray Bees overcame what looked like a case of jet lag before finally breaking into the scoring column for the first time in nearly 250 minutes and eventually posted a 2-0 verdict over Germantown Academy Wednesday afternoon on the campus of Rutgers Newark.
Marc Cintron and Walter Rodriguez each struck for second half goals to get St. Benedict’s into the victory column for the first time in over a week. The Gray Bees were coming off a weekend in which it failed to score while dropping a pair of games in the Quincy Classic in Illinois before flying back home to Newark on Sunday.
“We can now hopefully take a little bit of a deep breath and know that we weathered the storm,’’ said St. Benedict’s coach Rick Jacobs of his team’s recent misfortunes and 5-4 start.
Helping ease the tension for a lack of scoring prowess – albeit only for the time being – was Cintron, who scored St. Benedict’s first goal since a game against Peddie eight days earlier.
Cintron, a junior from Piscataway, snapped a scoreless deadlock with 18:16 left in the match off a play that was vintage St. Benedict’s soccer.
Rodriguez settled down a long pass out of the back and took on a defender before laying off a square pass to John Agudelo. Agudelo looked up and quickly slotted a pass through to Cintron, who was alertly making a diagonal run into the box from the right.
Cintron touched the ball once before firing a shot inside the left post and ended what had been 247 minutes of scoreless soccer, dating back to the final goal in a 6-0 victory over Peddie.
Before that, however, St. Benedict’s wasn’t breathing too easily while playing apprehensively against Germantown. There were missed opportunities galore and many of those were virtue of self-induced technical mistakes.
Whether it was firing high or wide off point-blank opportunities; taking one too many touches going to goal or shooting instead of passing and vice-versa, the team’s play was unsettled.
“They know what was going on and that we haven’t scored in some time and I think they might have been pressing,” Jacobs said. “But they continued to fight and finally got one.”
The only constant prior to the goal and after was Rodriguez, whose razzle-dazzle on the ball left Germantown defenders frazzled all day. He was eventually rewarded for his persistence when he scored off a rebound with 75 seconds left to seal the match against the Pennsylvania school (7-3-1), which had been unbeaten in its previous eight games.
“My guys have been carrying the white elephant and that’s tough,’’ Jacobs said of his team’s tentative play while trying to maintain a stringent tradition. “Losing is not a good feeling. But today, they lifted the burden a little and got a good win.”
NOTE: For pictures of the Gray Bee's game against Germantown, click this link.
--By Ron Jandoli
BACK ON THE RIGHT PATH!!!!!!!!!!!
Sept. 25, 2007
The St. Benedict’s boys soccer team used a week off to search for an identity.
It also allowed coach Rick Jacobs and his staff to tweak their lineup.
The result was one that the tradition-rich program has been accustomed to getting.
J.P. Rosero sandwiched a pair of assists around two scores and helped lift St. Benedict’s out of the doldrums with a 6-0 victory over The Peddie School Tuesday afternoon at NJIT’s Lubetkin Field.
The victory came a week after St. Benedict’s dropped a 3-0 setback to Delbarton and saw its record fall to an uncharacteristic 3-2 after five outings.
``The week off was brutal, but fun, if that makes any sense,’’ co-captain Marco Zanfardino said. ``There was too much individuality and not enough fight in us as a team and that’s why we lost. Not having any games and just practicing gave us a lot of time to get a lot closer.’’
The team played with a newfound confidence as soon as it took the field against Peddie (1-1-1). Stringing passes together and moving without the ball gave Jacobs’ club a look of a national powerhouse again, instead of just an ordinary side with ordinary players as witnessed just a eight days earlier.
``We were just trying to our best and we’re at our best when everyone is involved,’’ Zanfardino said. ``Not that we weren’t trying our best before, today we were doing it as a team.’’
St. Benedict’s (4-2) got on the board at 7:34 when Rosero sent John Agudelo toward goal with a through ball. Agudelo struck from just inside the 18, which set off a barrage of shots by the Gray Bees.
Just two minutes later, Agudelo had a shot from point-blank range denied. Then, Giovanni Bonilla uncorked a shot of his own following a beautiful give-and-go by Marc Cintron and Rosero that was turned away.
Bonilla also had a header carom off the crossbar moments later as the onslaught continued. Bonilla finally slotted a ball through to Rosero, who upped the score to 2-0 with just over 11 minutes left in the half.
When the dust settled, St. Benedict’s had tallied 22 shots-against just one — in the first half alone. After getting two early goals in the second half from Rosero and Zanfardino, the Gray Bees coasted home.
``Are we better off than we were last week?’’ questioned Jacobs. ``I’d like to think we are. Today just showed this team is ready to be fighters again.’’
NOTES: St. Benedict’s leaves for Illinois Thursday morning to compete over the weekend in the Quincy Classic on the campus of Quincy University. They will take on a pair of nationally-ranked teams from St. Louis, Chaminade High on Friday and DeSmet Jesuit on Saturday.
--By Ron Jandoli
GRAY BEES BEATEN AGAIN!!!
Sept. 18, 2007
If only J.P. Rosero’s header had gone in the goal instead of clanging off the crossbar, the outcome may have been different.
But instead, St. Benedict’s early two-goal deficit grew to three by intermission and the Gray Bees could never climb out of the hole, dropping a 3-0 verdict to one of New Jersey’s other perennial powers, Delbarton.
''We needed to get it to 2-1 before the half and almost had it,’’ said coach Rick Jacobs’ of Rosero’s snap-header in the 27th minute. ``But then we give up another goal and that made our climb to get back in it just ridiculous.’’
St. Benedict’s didn’t seem undone after giving up two goals in the first 12:02 of the match. And the tide even seemed to be swaying in its direction when, off a restart, Rosero out-leaped a defender for a header. The shot, however, caromed hard off the pipe back out in front of the goal. A handball in the box by St. Benedict’s on the ensuing scramble nullified any further shot at cutting the deficit in half.
Rosero actually had an earlier chance with the score 1-0. Victor Daza started the play with a through ball to Walter Rodriguez, who slotted a pass into the left side of the penalty area to Rosero. But the forward had the ball knocked away after switching it from his left foot to right for the shot.
The set play in which the Gray Bees nearly got back in the game, is the same type of play coach Jacobs’ clubs are notorious for in setting themselves apart. But that was not the case against Delbarton (3-0).
The Green Wave, in fact, used the set piece to its advantage on its home turf in Morris Township. Coach David Donovan’s side sandwiched a pair of goals off long throw-ins around a turnover for another score to gain its three-goal first-half spread.
``Organization and preparation on dead ball situations is our forte,’’ Jacobs said. ``We gave up two goals on our bread-and-butter. That’s unacceptable.’’
St. Benedict’s played a much crisper second half with Rodriguez, Giovanni Bonilla, John Agudelo and Chris Curley constantly causing havoc. But Delbarton, which was outshot, 6-0, after intermission, was content with packing it in the penalty area while holding a three-goal bulge.
NOTES: The loss puts St. Benedict’s at an uncharacteristic 2-3 in the early going. So rare are the two losses after five games, one would have to look beyond coach Jacobs’ 22 years to find such a sluggish start.
Before its season-opening setback to Millburn, Delbarton was the lone New Jersey club to defeat the Gray Bees in the last 16 years. The Morris County school’s 1-0 victory over St. Benedict’s on Oct. 4, 2003 snapped a 169-game in-state unbeaten streak by Jacobs’ clubs.
--By Ron Jandoli
