Ramesses Moore-McGuinness thinks often of his roots.
Before every soccer game and after every goal he scores, the West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South senior captain says a little prayer for St. Croix, where he was born and raised.
“It’s been hard to swallow, hard to hear about,” Moore-McGuinness said. “In the Virgin Islands, I have a lot of friend and teammates. St. Thomas got trashed. Hurricane Irma hit St. Croix hard. It wasn’t just teammates I knew there. It was people I grew up with. It’s hard. It makes me feel guilty in a way.”
Moore-McGuinness and his brother, Elijah who is a junior midfielder for the Pirate boys team, left St. Croix two years ago. Their friends from St. Croix have stayed in touch and assured them they would be fine during the hurricanes and checked in after each passed, but September’s storms in the Caribbean were cause for some anxious times for the brothers.
“Growing up, I don’t recall one being that big,” Elijah said. “There were hurricanes where you sat inside, power lines would be down and the community would come together. St. Croix does not have that many people. There are 40,000 people. We’d band together to help each other when needed.”
The Moore-McGuinness boys are used to leaning on each other in tough times. Ramesses was only 7 years old and Elijah was just 6 when the boys’ mother died from an asthma attack.
“I have a few memories,” Elijah said. “I wasn’t too young to understand what happened. I wasn’t as mature as I am now. It’s kind of made me mature as a person. It’s something I wish wouldn’t have happened, but it’s led to a lot of growth as a family. It’s made us closer.”
Their three grown sisters live in Florida. The boys moved to West Windsor to live with their aunt in 2015 and last spring, their dad moved up from St. Croix to join them.
“Just being with my dad, it makes me feel I’m back in St. Croix again,” Ramesses said. “And when I’m with my aunt, these are the people that are here for me.”
The soccer team, too, has been an important part of their transition to West Windsor. Ramesses couldn’t play his sophomore year, but the Pirates’ head coach Bryan Fisher asked him to stay and serve as a manager to be a part of the program. Elijah played on the freshman team.
“The guys, I have to give it to them,” Ramesses said. “I had no idea who I was going to talk to and where I was going to go. Coach Fisher wanted me to be a part of the program. They took me in with open arms. I felt really comfortable when I first came here.”
Luke Hansen, a captain along with Steven O’Campo, helped Ramesses join the Match Fit Academy club team for which he and Elijah now play. Ramesses is hopeful that he’ll have a chance to play in college next year.
Ramesses has been a major addition to the Pirates attack over the last two seasons. Last year in his first varsity season, he had eight goals, but missed the final eight games due to an illness. The disappointing ending—for Ramesses and the Pirates who went 11-7 but felt they should have done better—spurred them for this year.
“For me, this last year I wanted to leave a mark and do well,” Ramesses said. “My first year when I moved here, I wasn’t allowed to play so I missed sophomore year. My junior year, I played the first half of the season but I got really sick and missed the last eight games. I basically missed the last half of the season. I told myself, ‘Next year is your year. You have to stay healthy and have fun.’”
So far, so good. Ramesses has been even more productive in his final season with the Pirates. Through 10 games, he scored 14 goals to account for two-thirds of WW-P South’s output. Included in his production is a hat trick in a 3-2 win over Allentown and all four goals in a 4-1 win over Nottingham on Oct. 4.
“He’s the kind of guy who wants to score goals,” Fisher said. “Teams are keying on him. They’re keying on him and he can get frustrated by getting a double and a triple team at times. We talked about other guys stepping up. We had two other guys score two big goals against Steinert. He scored 10 of our first 15 goals. It’s nice to have him up there.”
Elijah is in his first season on varsity, and he has stepped into a starting role. A natural striker like his brother, he has helped contribute to the team from his left wing position.
“They’re a fun group of guys,” Fisher said. “On the field, they may look like they’re always yelling at each other, but they really do care for each other.”
The two are constantly pushing to get each other’s best, and their dad is a vocal presence who encourages both from the sidelines. Ramesses admires Elijah’s speed and skill and wants him to be more confident on the ball; Elijah just wants Ramesses to finish even more of his opportunities.
“He’s an amazing player,” Elijah said. “He’s always been three steps ahead of everyone his age. He creates all these chances. If he could put a few more in the back of the net, we could have more of those blowout games we’ve been looking for this season.”
After starting 2-0, WW-P South lost to West Windsor-Plainsboro North and Princeton in the second week of the season, but responded with a six-game winning streak to go 8-2 in their first 10 games. The first five wins in that streak were one-goal games. Fisher credits having 15 seniors as a difference maker in the tight games.
“I think it’s maturity, knowing you can win games,” he said. “The streak that we’re on, we’ve beaten Trenton, Hopewell, Allentown, Notre Dame and Steinert. That was an extremely difficult run. Add in Princeton and North to start that stretch. The last seven games have been a brutal stretch. It’s taken a mental and physical toll on us.”
Fortunately, having an older group has kept the team together and focused through a difficult early schedule. They have come through confident in their abilities.
“We came into the season realizing we were losing some of the talent but gaining just as much,” Elijah said. “Technically this team works harder because we’re not as skilled as the last couple years. We’ve had to work harder. I think that’s taken us a long way—our resiliency and work ethic.”
The Pirates will earn a high seed for the Mercer County Tournament if they continue their winning ways. They are two years removed from reaching the MCT final.
Making a deep run in the county and state tournaments will take the sort of toughness and togetherness that the Pirates showed through the first month of the season. They are all aware of the strong bonds that carried them to a fast start.
“I think we have as good as chance as anybody else does,” Ramesses said. “We have a good group of guys. We have good chemistry. Whether we win or lose, after every game I know everyone gave their best.”
Ramesses Moore-McGuinness plays the ball off his head during a 2-0 win at Lawrence High School on Oct. 6, 2017. For more on the team, turn to Page 22. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.),
