The boys 2021 soccer season started off on September 8th with a game against Immaculata High School. Leading up to this game the boys had been practicing every Wednesday in the winter up until Summer practices in June, which took place multiple times a week. The past two years this team has held the trophy for states and they hope to do the same this year.
Head Coach Joe Laspada has been coaching for 45 years. He pushes his players to succeed in their soccer career and get the best out of them. Dane Costabile says, “Coach Laspada is incredibly driven and pushes each player to be the best they can be. His history of leading Bernard’s soccer and his drive to win inspires us to win every game.”
Nico Botti, Sean Doran, Drew Elliott, JJ Zaun, Giancarlo Jimenez, Brian Guittierez-Diaz, Jeremy Guitterez-Diaz, Sean Hunnewell, and Dane Costabile made the All Skyland Conference this year. This is an amazing accomplishment for the boys.
Along with this, Drew Elliott broke the Bernards High School record for goals in his season with 32 this season and a total of 43 in his high school Career. He describes his soccer career, “Playing center back through freshman year, I never thought I would play striker in the beginning of my senior year. It’s great to be able to help my team on the other side of the field and help the team reach a sectional final and hopefully win a state chip.”
Giancarlo Acosta-Jimenez is the Bernards goalie and he has a total of 57 saves this season. Back-up goalie Nate Schmerler has 3 saves this season.
October 30th our Varsity team played Pingry, the number 1 boys soccer team in the state, in the Somerset County Finals. This was a heated game with both slides of bleachers filled with fans. The end result of the game was 1-1 followed by double overtime and penalty kicks. Drew Elliott, Fin Spitaleri, Nico Botti, James Kolvites, and Bryan Gutteriez-Diaz took Penalty kicks on Pingry’s Goalie. Nico was the first to score, but it was too late when Pingry scored their 4th kick after two Bernards misses and the fans went wild and it was over. This game proved to be one of the best in Bernards’ history.
On November 11 the boys played Hackettstown at home in sectional finals where their season came to a heartbreaking ending. This game went into double overtime and penalty kicks after a tie of 0-0. In the first round of penalty kicks JJ Zaun, Nico Botti, and James Kolvities scored, but Hackettstown scored 3 as well. In the second round JJ Zaun Scored the first goal, Adan Chaparro took the second shot and it hit the post and Hackettstown won.
The boys played a great season and the entire Crimson wishes the seniors the best of luck wherever their soccer career takes them. And to the rest of the team, we can’t wait for next year’s season.