U23s Begin Summer Season This Sunday
June 1, 2006
Jay Mancuso of the Boca U23 team battles a Irons Lakes Soccer Club defender in the semi-finals of the 2005 MSSL Cup Championship. The Boca U23s begin this years summer season on Sunday as they head to Fort Dix to participate for the third straight year in the Mid-Atlantic Summer Showcase League Season Kick-Off Festival which marks the official opening day of the 2006 summer season.
Boca U23 Team Begins Summer Season This Sunday
Club continues summer program for college age players and will participate as founding member of MSSL for third consecutive year
TOMS RIVER, NJ (June 1, 2006) – The Jersey Shore Boca men’s summer soccer program will officially begin on Sunday as the Boca U23 men’s team heads to Fort Dix to participate in the Mid-Atlantic Summer Showcase League (MSSL) Season Kick-Off Festival which marks the official opening day of the 2006 summer season.
MSSL is a third year regional soccer league fostering high-level competition during the summer months at both the youth and adult ages in both men’s and women’s divisions.
The adult level of MSSL is specifically designed for collegiate players under the age of twenty-three and is fully sanctioned by the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA), the national governing body for adult amateur soccer.
Boca will play a 12 game regular league schedule including a few “festival” type weekends when several MSSL teams play in a round-robin format at a central location similar to this Sunday at Ft. Dix.
The 2006 summer season ends on July 30th with the awarding of the MSSL Cup.
Boca’s league home games will be played at both the Manchester Soccer Complex in Manchester Township as well at the new John Patrick Sports Complex in Lakewood.
Last year, the Jersey Shore Boca men’s summer program finished as one of the most successful summer programs in the history of the Club.
Two Boca teams, U23s and U20s, played a total of 43 games during 2005, had 45 players on their combined rosters and advanced to semi-finals of both the USASA Regional Championship Tournament and the MSSL Cup.
Boca was one of the inaugural founding members of MSSL two years ago entering one U23 team that finished in seventh place in the standings out of ten teams with an overall league record of 2 wins 6 losses and 1 tie.
Jersey Shore Boca was also a member of the USL’s Premiere Development League in 2003.
“During our club’s twenty-eight year history, we have always provided a competitive environment for our Boca college players to stay active over the summer months when they return to the shore. MSSL allows us to continue our college-age program this year at the highest level of soccer available with the most affordable cost. This is not a Sunday tavern league. There will be some very good soccer played as we saw for the past two years” said Walt Konopka, a member of the Jersey Shore Boca Board of Directors who coaches the U23 team along with fellow Board member Steve Ruch of Toms River.
Because of the league’s regional affiliation with the USASA, MSSL is awarded wild-card entries by the USASA into their annual Under-23 Regional Championship which will be held in July.
“I believe this year’s group of players can build on the success of last year and achieve something really special this season if they stay focused and play with intelligence and mental toughness. We finished our pre-season pretty strong and look forward to league play. We have a very special group this summer, some of the best ever to come out of the shore area along with some very talented and experienced newcomers. We are being cautiously optimistic” finished Konopka.
The Boca U23 team recently finished their pre-season with a solid 3-2-0 record with wins over the Boca U17s and SJ USASA Men’s Select Team; a tough 1-0 loss to the Delaware Dynasty of the USL’s Premiere Development League and split a pair of games against the Boca Men’s Open Team, the current NJ USASA Amateur Cup Champions.
Plans are also in the works for the Boca U23 team to play a pair of friendly exhibition games this summer against the reserve team of Red Bull New York (MLS) as well as the Connecticut Men’s USASA State Select Team.
The Jersey Shore Boca men’s summer soccer program is officially sponsored by Surf Taco, a popular Mexican themed restaurant chain with locations throughout the 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 28-year anniversary in 2006.
For more information about the Boca U23 team and all other the Jersey Shore Boca programs logon to the Club’s official web site at www.jerseyshoreboca.com
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