Boys soccer team aims to be competitive in league games

The Vernon Township High School boys soccer team welcomes back a host of varsity tested players this fall.

The Vikings will begin the regular season Thursday, Sept. 7 with a home match against Newton.

“Our goals for this year include qualifying for the (NJSIAA) state tournament for the ninth time in the past 10 years as well as advance in the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament and be competitive in every league game,’’ head coach Joseph Jones said.

Among the returning student athletes are seniors Nick Heinzinger (forward, one assist in 2022), Tyler Heykoop (center back), Owen Lally (midfield, forward and goal keeper), Gavin Lewis (forward), Zack Mountain (forward, eight goals and nine assists in 2022), Tristen Santiago (back and midfield), Drew Shawgo (midfield) and Domenic Papaleo (midfield, four goals and three assists in 2022) and junior Sebastian Alvarez (midfield, one goal in 2022).

Carlo Cipriani (goal keeper), Josh Gelfand (defense), Travis Blaum (defense), Chris Sinche (defense) and Kyle Mangone (midfield and forward) are new additions to the varsity lineup.

“Owen Lally and Zack Mountain will be entering their fourth year on varsity and Tyler Heykoop will be entering his third,” and they will be considered the team leaders, Jones said.

“While the team has many seniors on it, we are relatively inexperienced at the varsity level. I expect these three to utilize their experience and knowledge of the game to assist in the transition of the first-year varsity players.’’

The Vikings posted a solid overall record of 10-8-1 last year, and they were 6-3-1 as third-place finishers in the challenging Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Freedom Division.

They advanced to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North 1 Group 2 Sectional Tournament, where they were defeated by Pascack Hills.

This year, Vernon competes in the NJAC Freedom Division along with High Point, Hackettstown, North Warren, Newton and Jefferson.

“I expect to be in contention for the division this year,’’ the coach said. “Although we lost 13 players to graduation, we have a good core of players and the effort and attitude in the preseason has been positive.

“The division is easily one of the most difficult in the area. Each team has some high quality players returning and are excellently coached.

“Newton, Hackettstown and Jefferson are the traditional power, but I would not sleep on North Warren, who returns most of their roster from last year, and High Point, who moved up to our division and feature one of the better strikers in the area.’’