Revamped BCSL could benefit local squads
Much like the Colonial Valley Conference, the Burlington County Scholastic League is regrouping its boys soccer teams this fall.
But, unlike Mercer County’s CVC, which reduced from three to two divisions, the 20-team BCSL soccer is increasing to the four-division format used by some of its other sports.
The set up will be re-evaluated every two years to see where teams belong.
Overall, the switch is pretty favorable news for the five Trentonian-area teams in the BCSL.
Northern Burlington will still be playing in the Liberty Division with Delran, Rancocas Valley, Burlington Township and Moorestown. That may seem like a daunting task for the Greyhounds, who were hit hard by graduation, but Northern still has a talented cast returning ready to return to the tough Liberty battles.
In fact, sixth-year head coach Justin Faust’s troops have a senior at key points all over the field with forward Christian Herdt, goalkeeper Kristian Slaby, fullback Justin Dwyer, plus midfielders Joe Campbell and Davis Hallman.
“We’ve counted on those players quite a bit. They’ve all played big roles for us the last few years,” said Faust, who will also be working in an impressive sophomore class.
Bordentown will still be part of the Patriot Division, where it has had a share of the title for the last three years. The Scotties will be joined by last year’s co-champ Palmyra, Cinnaminson, Pemberton and Pennsauken.
Second-year head coach Jason Zablow figures to have his work cut out for him with nearly as many players having graduated as return. Seniors Kevin Cryan and John Reichert will be back to direct the midfield, while Sean Pedersen and A.J. Vitterito will be needed to steady the backfield.
“I told our seniors since Day 1 that they have a chance to win the division four years in a row, which would make them the first Bordentown boys soccer team to do that,” Zablow said. “Everyone’s working hard. I’m interested to see who wins the battles at different positions.”
New Egypt, which finished third in the Patriot last season, joins defending champion Florence in the Freedom Division, along with Holy Cross, Riverside and Westampton Tech.
The Warriors and fourth-year head coach Matt Carroll will be counting on senior leadership from players like Colin Pritchard in the backfield, Jett Francis, Jasper Oliver and Trevor Edinger in the midfield, and Jonathan Olivera up top to again challenge for a division title.
“We lost talent, but we’ve got some guys who’ve stepped up,” Carroll said.
The Flashes graduated one of its best classes of all time and saw their head coach of 18 years, Mike Flynn, step aside, opening the door for Kyle Ballay to take over.
Ballay, who is also the varsity baseball coach at Florence, will still have familiar faces in the mix, but will need seniors like Jarrod Marshall (back), Mike Jones (forward) and Payne Walachy (midfield/back) to set the example for their younger teammates.
“I think we still have a strong team,” Ballay said. “The thing is without (graduates) Nick Hazel and Gagandip Kaler (who combined to score 62 goals last year), no one knows who to key on.”
Trenton Catholic Academy will be part of the new Independence Division with Burlington City, Maple Shade, Willingboro and Medford Tech. It’s the perfect situation for new head coach Scott Alvarez, who will lead the Iron Mikes into battle with a relatively young cast, including returning seniors Loyalty Bush (forward), Felix Lopez (midfield/forward) and Christopher Spinden (goalie).
“I think the new division is a nice fit for us,” said Alvarez, whose daughter, Ryane, a senior back, will be one of two girls playing for the boys team since TCA does not have a girls squad. “It will be a nice challenge since we graduated our whole defensive unit. The players still need to make better decisions with the ball at times, but they’ve been working hard.”