It's tournament time! Here's what to look for when the boys take the field for the Coaches Tournament
Seven years have passed since the South Jersey Coaches Tournament had a repeat champion, and the team in position to reverse that trend this season is Cinnaminson, which emerged from the field last year to end another long streak; the Pirates' win was their first since 1979.
The journey to the 2022 championship will get underway this weekend with eight first-round games.
The field
(16) Florence at (1) Rancocas Valley; (9) Washington Township at (8) Egg Harbor Township; (12) Cherry Hill West at (5) Middle Township; (13) Hammonton at (4) Shawnee.
(14) St. Augustine at (3) Cherokee; (11) West Deptford at (6) Kingsway; (10) Cherry Hill East at (7) Haddon Township; (15) Gloucester Tech at (2) Cinnaminson.
Best first-round game
Cherry Hill West at Middle Township is intriguing. The defending South Jersey Group 3 champion Lions are unbeaten in their last five games and have conceded just one goal over that stretch. They've had close losses to Rancocas Valley and Shawnee, and a 1-1 draw with Cherokee and – just like this time last season – are one signature win from stepping into South Jersey's elite. Peter Graffeo has five goals in his last five games and seven for the season.
Middle Township is 12-0 for the first time since 2013, when the Panthers opened with 13 straight wins and reached the Coaches Tournament quarterfinals. Steven Berrodin has seven multi-goal games and 20 goals for the season, and the Panthers are just as good in front of their own net – senior goalkeeper Devin Bock has put up seven clean sheets this season.
This game is a proving ground of sorts for the Panthers, who opened with close wins over Hammonton and West Deptford, but have only faced one team with a winning record since. Middle's last 10 opponents have a combined 26-72-4 record.
Long shot
St. Augustine is seeded 14th and its results this season have been all over the chart. The Hermits got off to a 6-0-1 start that included wins over Delran, Hammonton and Egg Harbor Township, but dropped return games to the Red Devils and Eagles. They've shown they can put a big effort together, but four in a row?
Impact players
Rancocas Valley: Owen Sugra, junior. He's not among the goalscorers every day, because he plays mostly defensive mid, but Rancocas Valley's control of the midfield play starts with him.
Cinnaminson: Aidan Quinn-Wright, senior. He moves between midfield and forward for the Pirates and just seems to have a knack for scoring important goals.
Cherokee: Chris Meder, senior. Crucial to the Chiefs' build-up and a good finisher, with six goals and five assists this season.
Shawnee: Matt Quinn, senior. This team graduated 15 players last season, so new leadership was going to be needed. Quinn, a defender, was one of the people who stepped in to fill that need, and Shawnee has shut out four opponents.
Middle Township: Steven Berrodin, senior. He's sitting right at 50 career goals. He had 24 as a junior and figures to top that this season. He has 20 in his first 12 games.
Kingsway: Zach Webb, senior: He's taken a bigger role in the Dragons' defense this season and also come forward to be a presence in the box on restarts. He's got two goals and three assists.
Haddon Township: Luke Chatten, senior: As strong a presence in the midfield as you'll find in South Jersey. He has 13 goals and 11 assists this season.
Egg Harbor Township: Lucas Lainez, senior: Doesn't have great offensive numbers, but his ability to beat defenders one-on-one makes him crucial to the Eagles' buildup, and his speed and willingness to work on defense means he's solid on both ends.
Washington Township: Savien Castro, senior: It's harder work this year, because he doesn't have the outstanding midfield the Minutemen had last year – but he's still a hard worker in the final third and a good finisher, with eight goals this season.
Cherry Hill East: Alec Herring, senior: He has five goals this season from his midfield position, including one in each of the last three games.
West Deptford: Josh Owen, senior: seven saves in a 1-0 win over Delsea on Oct. 8. The Eagles have conceded just nine times this season, and only once in the month of October.
Cherry Hill West: Leo Orefice, junior: has six clean sheets to his credit and the Lions have allowed just four goals all season.
Hammonton: John Waddell, junior: the leading scorer for the Blue Devils, with eight goals and seven assists.
St. Augustine: Alex Clark, sophomore: Scored the winner in the Hermits' 2-1 victory over Delran early this season and remains the team's leading scorer, with six goals and three assists.
Gloucester Tech: Noah Heins, senior: His seven goals leads the Cheetahs, who have wins over Kingsway and Clearview to their credit; scored in both of those games.
Florence: Chris Krall, senior: Has a goal or an assist in every Florence game this season; 12 goals and eight assists in total.
Streaks
Washington Township was the last back-to-back winner, in 2013 and 2014. … Cinnaminson's win last year ended a 42-year drought and was the second for the Pirates. … The most frequent winner is Shawnee, which has won the tournament 12 times, but hasn't won since 2006. … Eastern has won the girls' tournament five times and is the top seed this year – which is bad news for Moorestown, St. Augustine, Washington Township, Rancocas Valley and Cherry Hill East, because every year that's ended with Eastern as the girls' champ has yielded a different boys' champ. … Last time the same school took the boys and girls crowns? It's only happened once – Shawnee in 2003.
Predictions
Nah, not going there. Let's watch it and enjoy it.
John A. Lewis is a sports writer for the Burlington County Times, the Courier Post and the Vineland Daily Journal. E-mail him at jlewis@thebct.com. Please consider supporting local journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Burlington County Times: Get ready for the boys Coaches Tournament with our primer
