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The Fabulous Fifty-Five
August 18, 2005

Jersey Shore Boca will have a record fifty-five club standouts who previously played for Boca on either their Men’s, Super Y-League, PDL, Club or Youth teams that will participate in NCAA intercollegiate soccer this fall for their respective institutions. This will be the highest number of Boca players to ever participate in NCAA intercollegiate soccer during the same season in the club’s 27 year history.
The Fabulous Fifty-Five

Jersey Shore Boca standouts prepare for the 2005 NCAA college soccer season

TOMS RIVER, NJ (August 18, 2005) – Although the recent completion of the 2005 summer season for the Jersey Shore Boca U23, U20 and U19 men’s teams brings an end to the summer season, it also marks the annual beginning of an exciting time of year for Boca’s collegiate players as they pack-up and head-off to their respective schools to begin training camp this month for the upcoming 2005 college soccer season.

Jersey Shore Boca will have a record fifty-five club standouts who previously played for Boca on either their Men’s, Super Y-League, PDL, Club or Youth teams that will participate in NCAA intercollegiate soccer this fall for their respective institutions.

This will be the highest number of Jersey Shore Boca players to ever participate in NCAA intercollegiate soccer during the same season in the club’s 27 year history.

Thirteen of Boca’s fifty-five players will be seeing college action for the first time as freshmen while twenty players, several of which are primed for a break-out 2005 season, will play this year at the NCAA Division I level in some of the top college soccer conferences in the United States.

Five Boca players, all of which played on the Boca U20 team this summer will also be making transitions from an old school to a new one.

Leading Boca’s freshman class are 2005 graduates Mark Schmiegel of Toms River (Toms River North), Mark Petruniak of Hightstown (Hightstown), Dan Brackley of Hamilton (Peddie School) and Andrew Finger of South Harrison (Kingsway Regional), all of whom played on the Boca U-20 men’s team this past summer that advanced to the semi-finals of both the United States Adult Soccer Association’s (USASA) Regional Championship Tournament and the Mid-Atlantic Summer Showcase League (MSSL) Cup Championship.

Schmiegel begins his college career at Bucknell University (PA), Petruniak travels to American University (DC), Brackley heads to Carnegie Mellon University (PA) and Finger, who also played with Boca’s U19 Super Y-League team this summer, lands at Neumann College (PA).

“Mark, Andrew, Dan and Mark all held their own this summer with us. They had the opportunity to play against some of the top college players in the region and did very well against them. I believe they were able to gauge what worked at this level and what they need to improve upon when their college camp begins” said Walt Konopka, a member of the Jersey Shore Boca Board of Directors who coached the Boca U20 team this summer.

Four of the five Boca players who are transferring will depart from Ocean County College including Sean Cahill (Whiting) who will attend West Virginia University, Justin Campbell (Point Pleasant Boro) who will attend Manhattan College, Andrew Hawtin (Toms River) who will attend Syracuse University and Jason Mancuso (Toms River) who will attend Central Connecticut State University.

Boca’s Connor Bryant (Tinton Falls) will transfer from Herkimer County Community College in New York to Bryant University (MA).

Four other Boca players, Andrew Perez (Brick), Justin McGrath (Brick), Chris Konopka (Toms River) and Jon Curry-Edwards (Spring Lake Heights) who were also members of Boca’s U20 team this summer, are poised for break-out college seasons as all of them will face some of the nation’s best in three of the top Division I college soccer conferences in the country.

Perez, who will begin his sophomore year at LaSalle University, comes off a solid freshman year and a good summer. The 2004 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team selection tallied 7 goals in 12 games, including 2 game winning goals for the Boca U20s this summer placing him second on the team in scoring. Perez will have his work cut out for him this college season as perennial powers Saint Louis University and the University of Charlotte join the already tough Atlantic 10 Conference.

Old Dominion University sophomore goalkeeper Curry-Edwards will be pushing for the starting GK spot for the #22 pre-season nationally ranked Monarchs of the Colonial Athletic Conference. He saw action in 9 games for Boca this summer earning 2 shutouts with a 2.55 goals against average.

McGrath and Konopka, who both play in arguably the top college soccer conference in the United States, will square-off against each other in a Big East Conference game when Seton Hall visits Providence on Saturday October 8th.

Seton Hall’s McGrath, who begins his sophomore season, led the Boca U20s is scoring and total points this summer tallying 9 goals and 3 assists for 21 points in 13 games. McGrath played in 14 games for the Pirates last year.

Konopka, who carries a large presence inside the box at 6’5” and 220 lbs, begins his junior year for the Friars as their top goalkeeper. He played in 6 games for Boca during the summer allowing only 5 goals while earning 3 shutouts and averaging 0.83 goals against him.

The Toms River native also was invited to practice with the New England Revolution and Metrostars of Major League Soccer throughout the summer.

“The goal of any collegiate soccer player over the summer should be to practice in a highly intense environment, keep their fitness and strength up and play games at the highest competitive level possible. Our club has historically provided this type environment to our college players. Any player who participated on our U23, U20 or U-19 teams this summer experienced some of that great environment. Our Directors, Coaches and Staff are very proud of all of our college players. We wish all of them the best of success this season” finished Coach Konopka.

The fifty-five Jersey Shore Boca players who will participate in intercollegiate soccer this fall are as follows (name-hometown-college):

Seniors:
Acciani, Matt-Cherry Hill-Union College
Barreau, Kissniger-Barnegat-Centenary College
Campbell, Ryan-Pt. Pleasant Boro-Monmouth University
Cheeseman, Kris-Barnegat-New England College
Corti, Dan-Lakewood-Nyack College
Finger, Josh-Glassboro-Ursinus College
Gkionis, George-Jackson-Stevens Institute of Technology
Herring, JP-Barnegat-Caldwell College
Nieves, Manny-Hammonton-Centenary College
Wilhem, Dan-Beach Haven-Caldwell College

Juniors:
Baiata, Mike-Pt. Pleasant Beach-William Paterson University
Bryant, Connor-Tinton Falls-Bryant University
Bulvanoski, Pat-Oceanport-Mt. Saint Mary’s College
Cahill, Sean-Whiting-West Virginia University
Campbell, Justin-Pt. Pleasant Boro-Manhattan College
Coletti, Jim-Warren-Assumption College
Fraggos, Andy-Marlboro-Towson University
Gaven, Jim-Hamilton-Seton Hall University
Gkionis, Nick-Jackson-Stevens Institute of Technology
Hawtin, Andrew-Toms River-Syracuse University
Konopka, Chris-Toms River-Providence College
Mancuso, Jason-Toms River-Central Conn. State University
McMichael, Jim-Pompton Plains-Kings College
Pontier, Christian-Forked River-Stevens Institute of Technology
Zambor, Casey-Jackson-Lynchburg College

Sophomores:
Arocha, Ricardo-Fanwood-Providence College
Curry-Edwards, Jon-Spring Lake Heights-Old Dominion University
Galante, Rob-Sayreville-Bloomfield College
Gee, Pat-Spring Lake Heights-North Carolina Wesleyan
Hahn, Eugene-Roselle Park-Kean University
Haydu, Dan-Toms River-Monmouth University
McGrath, Justin-Brick-Seton Hall University
McGreevy, Chris-Hoboken-Stevens Institute of Technology
Nicholson, Dave-Clarksburg-East Stroudsburg University
Novak, Dave-East Windsor-East Stroudsburg University
Ortiz, Jeremy-Mt. Laurel-LaSalle University
Perez, Andrew-Brick-LaSalle University
Plaugic, John-Kearny-Caldwell College
Ruthner, Carlos-Delran-Burlington County College
Ruthner, Enio-Delran-Burlington County College
Tivzenda, Versh-Hoboken-Stevens Institute of Technology
Wilson, Damon-Mullica Hill-Ohio Wesleyan College

Freshmen:
Babcock, Sean-Barrington-West Chester University
Brackley, Dan-Hamilton-Carnegie Mellon University
Corcoran, John-Stratford-St. Joseph’s University
Daley, James-Bayville-Methodist College
Fidler, Chip-Williamstown-Norwich University
Finger, Andrew-South Harrison-Neumann College
Jennings, Colin-Wall-Elizabethtown College
Juska, Mike-Wall-Rider University
Morris, Ryan-Brick-East Stroudsburg University
Nelan, Chris-Barrington-College of New Jersey
Petruniak, Mark-Hightstown-American University
Schmiegel, Mark-Toms River-Bucknell University
Weinberg, Jake-Highland Park-Rutgers University

Jersey Shore Boca has been a fixture in the soccer community since 1978 and is one of the most respected soccer clubs on the East Coast.

The Club is celebrating their 27-year anniversary in 2005.

For more information on the Jersey Shore Boca Soccer Club, visit the Club’s official web site at www.jerseyshoreboca.com

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