• Home
• Sports

If you left either the South Jersey Non-Public A or Non-Public B final last year thinking the games were so great that you wanted to see a rematch, you're in luck.

The same teams have reached the finals again this season.

Top-seeded St. Augustine Prep (21-1), No. 2 in The Press' Elite 11, will meet second-seeded Christian Brothers Academy (16-3-2 and No. 3 in The Elite 11) today at 6 p.m. at Holmdel High School in the S.J. Non-Public A final.

Second-seeded Sacred Heart (16-2), No. 9 in the Elite 11, faces top-seeded St. Rose at 5 p.m. at Eastern High School in the S.J. Non-Public B final.

The Prep and Sacred Heart hope for a repeat of last year, when each team won and advanced to its respective state final.

Non-Public A

St. Augustine beat CBA 1-0 in last year's S.J. final.

This is the fifth straight season the Hermits and Colts will meet in the playoffs, with each winning two games.

"It's a great rivalry," Prep senior sweeper Matt Macey said. "They always give us a good game. We know that we are going to have to play our best to beat them."

Holmdel High School is a not-so-neural home site for the game.

The campus is four miles from CBA's and 99 from the Prep's.

"That kind of heightens the intensity of the game," Macey said. "It gets us fired up for the game."

Macey and Justin TenBrook lead a talented Prep defense. Connor Hurff leads the midfield with 14 goals.

Forwards Ryan McFadden (16 goals) and Dominic Pernice (12) give opposing defenses matchup problems.

Scott Thompson clinched CBA's spot in the final with an overtime goal Tuesday as the Colts defeated Notre Dame 2-1.

The Prep is looking for the ninth sectional title in the program's history. The Hermits won five S.J. Non-Public B titles before moving up and winning three S.J. Non-Public A crowns.

The St. Augustine/CBA winner will meet the winner of the North Jersey Non-Public title game between Seton Hall Prep and Don Bosco Prep in the state final Tuesday at The College of New Jersey.

Non-Public B

Sacred Heart is making its second straight appearance in the sectional final.

The Lions beat St. Rose 3-2 last year before advancing to, and winning, the state final.

The Purple Roses, who have made eight of the last nine sectional titles, have outscored opponents 6-0 in two playoff games this year.

Sacred Heart coach Chris Meyrick doesn't like to overthink things come playoff time.

"Whatever we've been doing has worked all year, and it's going to continue to work," Meyrick said. "As long as we play our style of soccer, we'll be fine."

The Lions' offense starts with Nick Gazzara.

The junior forward has scored in all 18 of Sacred Heart's games and leads the team with 28 goals.

Eric Ciancaglini has 11 goals. Luke Bencie and Matt Beckett have eight apiece. Pat Bik and Mike Mazzochi lead the midfield.

Goalkeeper Jesse Dickenson has nine shutouts.

Nick Hudak, Mike Verga and Chris Hueth each scored as St. Rose beat Holy Cross 3-0 on Tuesday to advance to the sectional final.

The Lions, if they can get past St. Rose, could get a rematch in the state final as well. The Lions beat Gill St. Bernards 1-0 last season. Gill St. Bernards plays Montclair Kimberley today in the North Jersey final.

Meyrick played at Richard Stockton College for coach Jeff Haines.

"Hainesey always used to tell us, 'You know you're doing something right when it's cold outside and you're still playing soccer,' " Meyrick said. "If you don't want to play in these games, then something is not right."

Contact John O'Kane:

609-272-7210

JOKane@pressofac.com

No comments have been posted. Be the first poster!

PressofAtlanticCity.com offers everyone the opportunity to comment on published stories. However, it is impractical for editors to screen all comments.
If you believe a comment is offensive, please click on the abuse-reporting link and your objection will be considered by an editor. We encourage participants to use their real names, but inoffensive screen names are acceptable. Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them.
Please post responsibly. Do not post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy.
Be polite. Don’t hate. Users who don’t play by the rules may be blocked from participating.

View our full terms of service and privacy agreement

Click here to report a comment as abusive.

You must login to post a new comment