Pennington begins season with No. 1 ranking
If Mercer County varsity boys soccer can live up to the hype this fall, it could be a monumental season.
The high marks begin with the Pennington School, where coach Chad Bridges’ team has been named as the preseason No. 1 team in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer.
A lot of that has to do with the Red Raiders upsetting St. Benedict’s at the end of last season to win the NJISAA Prep A state title after also earning a piece of their second straight Mercer County Tournament title, while going 16-0-3.
Pennington graduated some key players, but will have 11 back eager to pursue that challenge. Leading the list is senior midfielder Ibrahima Diop, who topped the preps with 32 goals last season. He’ll get plenty of help on the attack from senior returnees like forwards Eric Broadway and Chris Egg-Krings, fellow midfielder Jared Panson and junior Nicolas Herrerais.
Meanwhile, the Red Raiders’ defense will be held down once again by goalkeepers Max Pinado (senior) and Noah Levinson (junior), senior back Marco DiNatale and junior returnees Jared Subarsky and Timmy Coe.
While Pennington dominated Prep A, Princeton Day School was equally strong in the Prep B ranks.
First-year Panthers head coach Oliver Hilliker led the squad to a 12-5-3 finish, going undefeated against Prep B opponents. Twelve of his players return to chase another state title this season, including leading scorer Ricardo Martinez, a junior forward who scored 11 goals in 2016.
Peddie, which was the second best team in the area a year ago when it went 142-1, may have graduated 14 and had head coach Peter McClellan reduce his role after 12 years, yet its big news is its new head coach.
Former PDS coach Malcolm Murphy takes the reigns with McClellan as his assistant. Murphy won 110 games over 14 years with the Panthers before taking last year off from the high school scene. Between him and McClellan, who stepped aside after winning his 100th game, the Falcons’ coaching staff has 210 wins and 26 years of experience.
Senior forward/midfielder Paul Lewis is the top returning scorer after scoring five goals last year.
Senior Jakob Niglio takes over in goal and figures to receive defensive help from his returning classmates Christian Rodriguez, Nick Dottino and Mac Naggar.
Lawrenceville also had its 14th-year head coach Blake Eldridge pick up his 100th win last season. With 12 players back, the Big Red are hoping to improve upon their 5-9-1 finish of 2016.
In senior forward Meinhardt Rentrup (five goals last year), junior midfielder Thomas Ehret (four goals), senior midfielder Jacob Therrien (three) and senior forward Alex Yang (two), L’ville appears to have a solid attacking line. It will need similar defensive determination from senior goalkeeper Bobby Vogel and senior backs Jefferson Mott and Abhi Joshi.
Like Lawrenceville, Hun is hoping to even its wins and losses more this season after only managing five victories in 2016. With its top two scorers back in senior forwards/midfielders Michael Campbell (nine goals) and Dylan Smith (six), the Raiders have quality targets.