CBA team faces tough task in state tourney

BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

Above, CBA’s Geoff Winchell battles with a Holy Cross defender for possession of the ball during their state playoff game in Lincroft on Friday. At left, CBA’s Chris Perez shows some fancy footwork. Most soccer teams would give anything to have the kind of season the 2005 Christian Brothers Academy squad has had.

A 10-5-1 record entering this week, a berth in the quarterfinals of the Shore Conference tournament, and an exciting 2-1 win over Holy Cross of Delran last Friday in the opening round of the Non-Public A South state tournament.

Yes, most teams would sign for that right now.

But CBA is not your typical soccer program. The Colts, a perennial powerhouse, are used to winning and have traditionally been considered one of the elite programs in the state. They have 15 Shore Conference regular-season championships, six conference tournament titles, and four state crowns to prove it.

So what might be considered a gem of a season for some schools is just another good season for this year’s CBA team, especially after last year’s 18-2-1 season.

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff “We graduated a great senior class last year,” head coach Dan Keane, now in his 28th season, said. “But this has been a good team. I wouldn’t put them in the upper echelon of past CBA teams, but it’s been a very good year and we’ve played very good defense, which is typical of our teams. If anything, we’ve struggled a little in offensive goal scoring. That might be the one weakness of this team.

“But we’re rated in the top four in the Shore, and that covers both private and public schools in Monmouth and Ocean counties. We’re No. 4. So I think it’s a very good and capable team. Whether or not we win a state championship is a long shot.”

CBA entered the week only three wins away from another state crown, but the first hurdle was beating No. 1 seed St. Augustine, one of the top teams in the entire state this season, at their place on Tuesday in the A South semifinals.

“They’re the team to beat,” Keane agreed prior to Tuesday’s game. “They have a very strong team, and for us to beat them would be considered an upset.”

If the fourth-seeded Colts were to pull off the upset, they would play for the A South championship on Friday against the winner of Tuesday’s other semifinal between No. 2 Notre Dame of Trenton and third-seed St. John Vianney of Holmdel. The winner of Friday’s game would then meet the A North champ for the overall New Jersey Non-Public state championship.

“Whatever happens Tuesday, we’ll wrap up a winning season and get ready for next season,” Keane, owner of a 396-113-29 career record, said. “Hopefully, we’ll get ready for another game on Friday, but we’ll see what happens.

“We have a young team, so next year we’ll have a veteran team,” he added. “We still start five seniors, but we also start six underclassmen, including a sophomore. We’re a fairly balanced team that way, but overall we have more underclassmen than seniors.

“So like I say, it’s been a good year this year and I expect a better year next year.”

Two of those underclassmen returning next year have led CBA in scoring this season. Mike Razzoli, a junior forward, has tallied a team-high nine goals while Nick Danna, another junior forward, is second with seven goals.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Scott MacAleff, yet another junior, has recorded six shutouts in the Colts’ 10 victories.

The seniors have also contributed to CBA’s success, especially on defense, where Alex Dealmeida and Geoff Winchell have been two of the mainstays.

Then there’s senior captain Justin Kahle, a starting midfielder who Keane says is “probably our best all-around player.” He also has four goals this season, as does sophomore Jim Lannon, another starter in the midfield.

The future looks very bright. Besides the underclassmen in the starting lineup and on the varsity bench, the Colts have a slew of young talent in their program from a junior varsity team that went 10-1-1 and a freshman squad that compiled an 8-2-1 mark.

“So there’s some good talent coming up,” Keane, who’s never had a losing season, said.

But the veteran coach wasn’t worried about the future coming into the week’s action. He was more concerned about finding a way to beat St. Augustine on Tuesday and maybe adding another state title to the ones he won in 1992, 1998, 2000 and 2002.

“We have to play our best game,” Keane said. “For us to win, I think we have to score one or two goals and then hope we shut them out, and I don’t know if that’s possible. It’s gonna have to be a 1-0 or 2-1 type of game. For us to win, it has to be a low-scoring game.

“But no matter what the outcome, we’ve put out another traditional CBA successful soccer team.”

And the kind of season most schools would love to have.

Notes ... CBA was not the only local soccer team chasing down a sectional title this week.

St. John Vianney advanced to the South A semifinals with a thrilling 2-1 win in overtime against Monsignor Donovan on Friday. Brian Grimm netted the game-winner off a throw-in from Rhyan Nelson just 30 seconds into the extra session.

Tuesday, SJV played second-seeded Notre Dame, a 2-0 winner over St. Joseph’s of Metuchen in the first round.