VOTE: Broad Street Dough Co. Boys Soccer Player of the Week NJSIAA Edition

Boys Soccer Players of the Week – NJSIAA Tournament Edition

Each week, Shore Sports Insider will give the fans of the Shore Conference a chance to pick the Player of the Week sponsored by Broad Street Dough Co.

Below, we have selected the 12 top performers from the first week of the NJSIAA Tournament. Read about the nominees and vote at the bottom of the post for the one that deserves to be the overall Boys Soccer Player of the Week. Vote once per hour until the poll closes Wednesday at 10 p.m. Winner will receive a $25 gift card courtesy of Broad Street Dough Co

Week 8 Winner: Michael Faller, Freehold Boro

 

NJSIAA Early-Round Awards

Ethan Lustig, Manalapan

The Manalapan junior had a monster week in leading the Braves past Trenton and Old Bridge in Central Jersey Group IV. He started the week with a hat trick and an assist in a 6-1 rout of the Tornadoes in round one, then assisted the lone goal of Manalapan’s 1-0, quarterfinal win over Old Bridge – a header by Ethan Rosenfeld in the 68th minute.

Saeed Torres, Ranney

Ranney has scored 12 goals in two NJSIAA Tournament games and Torres has finished seven of them. His most recent performance was a hat trick with two assists in Friday’s 6-0 win over Wilberforce, but his outing on Tuesday was the one to remember. Torres scored a career-high four goals and Ranney needed every one of them in a 6-5 win over Noor-ul-Iman. The visitors rallied from a 5-2 deficit to send the game to overtime, but Torres responded with the golden goal to cap his career day and send Ranney to the next round.

Dillon Konfederak, Central

Central had two standouts in its two wins this week and it is the senior, Konfederak, who gets the nod over junior teammate Ilyas Ciltepe. The Golden Eagles closed the week with a 3-2 upset of No. 1 seed and defending South Jersey Group IV champion Washington Township, but in order to get to that game, they had to beat No. 9 Eastern first. Konfederak left his mark on that first round win by scoring the second of four Central goals and assisting each of the other three in a tense, 4-3 win over the visiting Vikings. Ciltepe was one of the goal-scorers in that win and the junior then scored two goals in the win at Washington Twp.

Cristian Gonzalez, Manasquan

Once again, the state tournament is bringing out the showman in Gonzalez. In two Manasquan wins, Gonzalez has scored three goals and his most recent strike was a repeat of a spectacular goal he scored in a road win in last year’s tournament. After scoring two goals to lead a 3-0 Manasquan win at home over No. 11 South River on Tuesday, Gonzalez found his team down, 2-0, at Bordentown with 15 minutes to go on Friday. Right after Bordentown’s second goal, Gonzalez launched the kickoff directly into the goal – a feat he performed in a 3-2 win at Governor Livingston in last year’s Central Group II Tournament as well. The quick strike ignited a run a three unanswered goals that sent the Warriors into the sectional semifinals with a 3-2 win.

Alex Salvo, Red Bank

The Bucs’ season came to an end with a 1-0 loss at Steinert on Friday, but it was a resurgent year for the program and a breakout one for Salvo. The junior midfielder saved his best all-around performance of the season for last week, when he scored three goals in the second half to carry Red Bank to a 3-1 win over Brick Memorial. The victory was the first in the state tournament for Red Bank since 2015 and the hat trick capped a 19-goal season for Salvo.

Nick Prosperi, Southern

Prosperi has played all over the field for Southern this season and in the first round of the state tournament, he played the role of goal-scorer. The do-it-all senior stepped up for a hat trick in Tuesday’s round-one, 5-1 win for the Rams over No. 13 Pennsauken – the first of two lopsided wins for Southern in its push to the South Jersey Group IV semifinals.

Christian Caso, Toms River North

Toms River North has scored 10 goals in two games and Caso got the scoring spree started with the first goal of the Mariners’ 3-1 win over Egg Harbor on Tuesday. The senior then scored twice in the middle of a 7-0 Toms River North onslaught vs. Cherry Hill East on Friday – a game that started with Caso assisting the first of two goals by senior teammate Josh Brazier. Toms River North will play in the South Jersey Group IV semifinals for the fifth straight season – sixth if the 2020 modified state playoffs are included in the streak.

Shane Gambarony, Toms River South

Gambarony scored one of Toms River South’s two goals in a 2-0 win over No. 11 Clearview in Tuesday’s South Jersey Group III opener, but this recognition is a nod to what the junior did in the week leading up to the state tournament. There was no Player of the Week nominations for that week since those are essentially tune-up game, but Gambarony’s performance was too good to go unnoticed: During a five-game winning streak that culminated in Tuesday’s state tournament win, Gambarony produced nine goals and five assists, including a four-goal game and another hat trick.

Evan Santiago, Long Branch

Santiago was one of the few experienced seniors in Long Branch’s lineup at the start of the season and now, he is one of the primary leaders on a team that has won eight in a row and is heading to the Central Jersey Group III semifinals after shocking undefeated Colts Neck in the quarterfinals. Santiago has pushed up for two goals and an assist through two matches, scoring once in a 2-0 win over Hopewell Valley on Tuesday, then providing a goal and two assists in the 3-2, come-from-behind win at Colts Neck.

Luke Bodziak, Toms River East

Toms River East’s defense and its goalkeeper tandem of Bobby Calvo and Michael Moore deserve props for pitching a pair of shutouts to start their run through South Jersey Group III, but when Toms River East needed a goal to make the shutouts stand up, the team turned to Bodziak. The senior has two second-half goals in two games – the first of which beat Absegami, 1-0, and the second of which was a header early in the second half that took down No. 7 Lacey – a Shore Conference Tournament semifinalist.

Carson Perry, Middletown South

Perry put his penalty-kick prowess on display last week to help his Middletown South team avoid a first-round upset. He saved the first two attempts of the shootout on Tuesday and Middletown South prevailed on penalties against the Jaguars. After getting past that game, the Eagles put it all together in a 3-0 win over No. 5 Westampton Tech, which included a clean sheet for Perry, a goal and an assist for senior Brendan Millevoi and the second straight game with a goal for junior Gian Luca Zito.

Zach Halpern, Rumson-Fair Haven

Halpern was the unofficial man of the match in Rumson’s 4-0 first-round win over Wall. The junior defender was part of an effort that shut out Wall and he also pushed forward to initiate two of the Rumson goals with long throw-ins. On Friday, Halpern scored the first goals of the Bulldogs’ road match at No. 2 seed and defending Group III runner-up Robbinsville, but the Ravens rallied to deny Rumson in overtime, 2-1.

Honorable Mention

Ilyas Ciltepe, Central; Thomas Silva, Long Branch; Mason Boles, St. John Vianney; Jacob Gomez, Ocean; Gian Luca Zito, Middletown South; Josh Brazier, Toms River North; Cruz Farkas, Manasquan; Erik Balkius, Manchester; Brendan Millevoi, Middletown South; Noor Eraky, Ocean; Silvio Pessoa, Shore; Liam Steiner, St. John Vianney; Dev Nayer, Ranney; Madden Leszczysnki, Central; Alejandro Lopez-Flores, Long Branch; Jefferson Rubi Cruz, Southern; Christian Assante, Toms River North; Aidan Donnelly, Southern; Ethan Rosenfeld, Manalapan; Brody Nacarlo, Southern; Ziya Nazeer, Holmdel; Kyle Moore, Colts Neck; Braeden DeAngelis, Manasquan; Sean Moore, Colts Neck; Jack Considine, Lacey; Frank Toledo, Toms River North; Cooper Attaway, Shore; Luke D’Angelo, Rumson-Fair Haven; Joao Domingos Vieira, Shore; Tanner Grozinski, Lacey; Josiah Stepney, Middletown North; Anderson Ordoñez-Mejia, Manchester; Servando Gonzalez, Manchester; Tristen Davolos-Guillen, Manasquan; Robert Boemio, Toms River South; Danny Palheta, Central; Nick Turturro, Howell; Jordan Benzon, Central; Caden Schweigart, Southern; Ivan Quiroz, Neptune; Alec Roberman, Marlboro; Cody McLeod, Manchester; John Fiorillo, Howell; Aidan Clauburg, Manchester; Josh Rosado, Manchester; Evan Hajeski, Point Beach; Angel Cabrera, Brick Memorial