The boys’ soccer team lost many significant players from last year’s 15-5 team, but look primed and ready for a run at a state title in 2014.  The loss of graduates Andrew DeBellis, Kevin Fisher, Tristan Scott and Eric Baumhauer from last year’s team have left some voids, but Head Coach Jason Meile was not left with a team full of inexperienced players.

Senior captains Darnell Brown, Steven Kalbach, and Mark Staudenmayer have all been varsity starters for the past three years. Not only have these boys been essential to CHS for the past three years, but they also “have the ability to play beyond their years at CHS,” claims Meile.  Thus far this season, these seniors, along with five others, have lead CHS to a 6-1 record, outscoring their opponents 27-4 in those seven contests.

The senior captains are not the only ones who will be beneficial to the team; the other five starting seniors will definitely be key factors for the rest of the season. Meile believes that the “senior leadership and their experience has been felt throughout the preseason and the early part of the season.” The eight starting seniors will have no problem guiding the several underclassmen that have been involved in quality varsity play.

So far the team has posted a record of 6-1 and they are ranked seventh in the state in all of Group 2.  The boys are one of four South Jersey teams in the top 10, trailing only Delran (second) and Sterling (fifth) and ahead of West Deptford (eighth). The boys came out strong in their first game against Northern Burlington. The Pirates pummeled the Greyhounds, beating them 5-0. Pat McCarthy, who scored three goals in the game, has a high bar set for him this year. Meile explains that “with the style of play and our formation, we are asking a lot of Pat during the season. He will be responsible for scoring or setting up a number of our goals.” Pat’s new role has been shown so far in the beginning of the season considering he’s already scored eight goals and assisted four. When asked about his new role on the team, McCarthy simply said “he’s trying to get better everyday and hopefully score more goals and continue to set up my teammates along the way.” McCarthy will definitely be a player to watch throughout the season.

Suffering a loss in their second game against Shawnee didn’t sit well with the Pirates. Since then, they have won every game and outscored their opponents by at least three goals.

Staudenmayer admits that so far the best moment of the season “had to be beating Moorestown 4-0 at home. It really made a statement in our division and it’s always nice to beat one of our rivals.” Division games are always big for any team, but especially for this team. Last year the boys won their first division title since 2007. Obviously one of the overall goals for the team is to make that happen again. Another one of their goals is to go further into the playoffs than last years’ team did. Most of the players who are on the field this year were on the field last year when they were knocked out of the third round of playoffs with a tough 3-2 loss to Rumson-Fair Haven.

Although the team has set goals for things like division titles and playoffs, both Staudenmayer and Meile agree that they “are not too worried about playoffs,” rather they are more “focused on winning the next game.”

That is just what they did in their Saturday morning game against Holy Cross. The Pirates beat the Lancers 3-0 and goals were scored by Allen Barret, Mark Staudenmayer, and Andrew Weist. Beating Holy Cross is always a confidence booster for any Cinnaminson team.

The next game on their mind is the defending-state champion and defending co-division champion team: Delran. The Pirates haven’t beaten the Bears since 2011 and in the last two years  the Pirates have been outscored 14-2. It’s safe to say that the Pirates are looking for revenge. They have the talent, they just need to execute it.

Staudenmayer agrees that the team is full of talent but “balanced play and unselfishness are the keys” to a win against Delran and a great rest of the season. When asked to explain what he meant by balanced, Staudenmayer explained “our back four have great balance with seniors Matt Ochman and Darnell Brown anchoring the middle. We’ve got balance in our midfield, especially in our attack and we have multiple players who can score.”

Staudenmayer explains the season thus far the best when he said “there’s no hidden agenda for anyone except winning.” Meile agrees when he says “there is not one player on the team that is worried about ‘his’ stats. They are just playing as a team who wants to leave a mark.”

After today’s heated battle at 5-1-1 Delran, win or lose, the boys will have to refocus quickly for a battle on their home turf on Friday with dangerous Rancocas Valley,  who is already 7-1 on the season and are the proud owners of Delran’s only loss thus far.  The BCSL Liberty Division will come down to Cinnaminson, Delran and Rancocas Valley for this season’s champion and this week will go a long way to seeing if the Pirates can reclaim their crown from last season.