Kicking Off – bigapplesoccer.com
June 6, 2007
June 6, 2007
KICKING OFF
Jersey Shore Boca opens 2007 season Sunday
The Jersey Shore Boca summer soccer program will officially begin this Sunday as the Boca U-23 men’s and women’s teams host the Mid-Atlantic Summer Showcase League season Kick-Off Festival at the John Patrick Sports Complex in Lakewood which will mark opening day of the 2007 MSSL season.
Jersey Shore Boca will participate in MSSL for the fourth consecutive year this summer as one of the league’s inaugural founding members.
The Boca men will square-off against last year’s MSSL Cup Champions West Chester United at noon and then take on Greater Valley United in the nightcap.
West Chester defeated Boca 2-1 in the semi-finals of the 2006 MSSL Cup Championship in their only meeting of the season last year.
The Boca women will start their first MSSL season against Hackettstown FC also at noon and then face the reserve side from the NJ Wildcats later in the day.
The NJ Wildcats first team squad is a member of the United Soccer League’s W-League.
Nine other MSSL men’s and women’s teams round out the festival participants at Lakewood.
All games start at noon and are open to the public with free admission.
MSSL is a regional summer soccer league, which is specifically designed for collegiate players under the age of 23 and is fully sanctioned by the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA), the national governing body for adult amateur soccer.
The Boca men’s and women’s teams will each play a 14-game regular league schedule including “festival” type weekends when several MSSL teams play in a round-robin format at a central location similar to this Sunday.
The 2007 summer season ends on July 29 with the awarding of the MSSL Cup.
Boca’s home MSSL games will be played at the John Patrick Sports Complex in Lakewood.
Former Neumann College (PA) assistant men’s soccer coach Wolfgang Finger will be in charge of the Boca U-23 men’s team assisted by Philadelphia native and National Soccer Hall of Fame member Alex Ely, who has 37 years of coaching experience including stints with numerous college and professional clubs.
Ely also earned four international caps as a player for the US Men’s National Team during World Cup qualifying matches in the 1960’s and was inducted into the hall in 1997.
The Boca women’s side will be led by long-time local women’s soccer advocate Charlie Cunliffe assisted by former Monmouth College (NJ) standout and former Northeast Conference player of the year Guy Lockwood.
“This will be the first time in several years that we have put together a women’s program for the summer,” said Walt Konopka, a member of the club’s board of directors who also manages the U-23 progra. “The interest has been very good. We have a solid group of college players on the women’s side with a core of them being from Monmouth University, Georgian Court University and The College of New Jersey.”
“Our men’s side, for the most part, will return some of the top college players to come out of the shore area,” he added. “We will have to rebuild in some positions, but should be solid again all the way around this year.”
In 2006, the Boca U-23 men’s team finished with an overall record of 16-5-1 which included a 10-game league unbeaten streak and second place finish in the MSSL regular season and semi-final appearances in both the U-23 USASA Regional Tournament and MSSL Cup Championship.
Also, two members from Boca’s MSSL team last summer, Chris Konopka, goalkeeper from Providence College and Teddy Niziolek (Clifton), midfielder from Seton Hall University, were selected by Kansas City and Columbus of Major League Soccer in the MLS 2007 Supplemental Draft held on January 18.
Konopka was selected by the Wizards in the third round as the 29th overall pick while Niziolek was tabbed by the Crew in the fourth round as the 41st overall pick.
Boca has been a fixture in the soccer community since 1978 and is one of the most respected soccer clubs on the East Coast.
Published on June 6, 2007
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