Seneca High School’s men’s soccer team will be returning for a competitive fall season with a handful of returning starters and hopes of advancing further than semifinals in the state tournament.
“It’s kind of nice that up the middle we have a lot of strength returning,” said head coach Sam Maira.
The Golden Eagles are coming back from a successful 2011 season and a record of 13–4, in addition to the last three of the five years clinching the division title. The team is anticipating a successful run to the state championship.
“We’re looking to make states and to make the coaches tournament. At midseason, they pick the top 16 teams and put them in a tournament. Last year we got in there and won our first coaches tournament,” Maira said.
Fifteenth-seeded Seneca upset second-seeded Williamstown to take first.
“We kind of fly under the radar a little bit because in our district are Lenape, Cherokee and Shawnee, and they’re perennially very good teams. We kind of fly under the radar a little bit, so I think we’ll surprise teams this year for sure, Maira said.”
The top scorer last season, Kent Dimming, who netted a total of 22 goals, graduated, leaving the team without a specific driving offensive leader.
“We don’t have anyone returning with huge numbers, but we have a lot of experience so it’s going to be pretty balanced. We have a lot of guys capable of scoring multiple goals,” Maira said.
Three seniors will be making a return to the team this fall — goalkeeper Ryan Oyola, central defender Alex McGrainer and midfilder Tom Coyne. Additionally, four rising players will make their varsity debut to the team, reinforcing the leadership Maira is looking for in addition to the balance on the field.
“We have a lot of returning guys so I feel like we’re going to play well together,” said Coyne. “We lost a lot of seniors, but we had a lot of depth on the bench last year so we have a lot of seniors and varsity players in our starting lineup.”
Seneca was shutout by Timber Creek in its final game of the season during the semifinal round of the NJSIAA state tournament. The team was eliminated from the Division 3 states race.
“Timber Creek and Bishop Eustace are our biggest rivals,” said McGrainer. “We want to beat Timber Creek.”
“I’m really impressed with the kids and the attitude. I remember when they came in as freshmen, and all of a sudden they become leaders. They go from boys to men so, that’s what I’m excited about. Their enthusiasm and how they came back prepared and in leadership roles,” said Maira.
The Golden Eagles open their season versus the Cherry Hill West Lions on Sept. 7 at 4 p.m. at home.
