John Grisham and Agatha Christie could not have combined to write a better mystery plot.
Start with a West Windsor-Plainsboro South boys’ soccer team that had not played since 2019 due to last year’s COVID-19 shutdown.
Add to that an entirely new coaching staff trying to weave together a lineup that was, in essence, playing together for the first time.
How that would turn out was anyone’s guess. But son of a gun, it turned out pretty darn good.
The Pirates finished the season with a 12-8-2 record that included a first-round Mercer County Tournament victory and a trip to the NJSIAA Group IV Central semifinals.
Mystery solved. But it took some doing.
“It wasn’t an easy process,” said senior midfielder Pedro Portilla, one of just five players returning with varsity experience from two years ago. “There were many new faces and most of us had never played together before.
“Like most teams, the start of the season is always a learning process. We were still working out the starting lineup, figuring out each player’s strengths and weaknesses. While the season progressed so did our team bond; and the connections we made only made our team stronger on the field.”
Portilla admitted he was a little apprehensive, considering an untested team was going to be guided by an equally untested coaching staff— at least on the varsity level.
With Bryan Fisher departing after a strong 10-year run, Matt Coburn was promoted from JV to varsity coach, Joe Gambino went from Freshman coach to JV and Fabio Aconi took over the Freshman squad. Coburn brought in former New Egypt coach Sean Feddema as his varsity assistant.
Portilla felt they came through in a big way.
“I wasn’t sure how the team was gonna look and who was going to step up for certain positions,” he said. “It wasn’t the same team that was left after 2019 and figuring out how to rebuild from what was left was tough. Luckily enough, our new coach and our new assistant coach stepped up in leading the new team and motivated us to grow together to form new bonds.”
Not surprisingly, Coburn had the same apprehensions as his midfielder.
“The feelings were all over—excitement, elation, anxiety,” Coburn said. “The nerves were certainly pressed to the limit. I had a lot of great support from a relatively new coaching staff.
“It’s funny, that being said, the expectations were still high. Bryan Fisher created such a good culture for the team while he was there. I was just hoping to continue that. That was goal number one.”
It took a while, but it all worked out during a season of highs and lows. South opened the campaign 2-0-2; lost four of six, won five of six, and then lost two of three entering states. One of those victories was over Robbinsville in the MCT before, ironically, the Pirates lost to Fisher’s Notre Dame team in the quarterfinal.
Then came a first-round state win over Manalapan in a shootout, followed by a 3-0 victory over Sayreville, which had stunned top seeded North Brunswick. The ride ended when the eighth-seeded Pirates fell to 13th-seeded Howell, 3-2 in the semifinals.
“I can’t put into words how proud I am of the whole team for putting together the state run we had,” Portilla said. “It had been many years since the school had made it as far as we did this year.
“I really saw the team coming together towards the end of the season, connecting passes and creating beautiful plays. Especially in our quarterfinal game against Sayreville, I could just see the team flowing on the pitch as one unit.”
It was basically a case of the players starting to mesh after a period of adjustment.
“Things started clicking,” Coburn said. “It took a while for us to really find where we fit and where guys needed to play. We asked some guys to play new positions and we found out they excelled at it. It took us two-thirds of a season to find out where we really fell on the field and then we started to click. I think they caught up with everyone else, they started to learn to play with each other and the chemistry built up.”
The Pirate seniors who returned with varsity experience were captains Portilla, Alan Mathew and Advaidh Iyer, along with Dylan Elias and goalie Shane Dowling.
“Over the summer I met with our three captains,” Coburn said. “I said ‘Listen, we’re gonna be successful this year no matter what, but success is not going to come in wins, it’s going to come from doing things right. If we do things right, the wins will come.”
Mathew provided speed as the right midfielder, Portilla controlled the midfield and also would drop to center-mid at times, while Iyer was a vocal leader at center mid. Elias, who hadn’t played since he was a freshman “was a key to our offense” while Dowling recorded eight shutouts and “was invaluable to the team. He shut down a lot of offenses and kept us in a lot of games.”
Varsity newcomers who rounded out the lineup included junior Christian Fiuczynski and freshman Alec Siegel at forwards, sophomore Aidan Grund at left mid, junior Quinn Ferri at center back, junior Johnny Cruz at left back and senior Dean Hunsberger at right back.
“All told we had six seniors starting on a regular basis,” Coburn said. “Having them out there really taught the kids about the energy you need out there every day. We had kids who never played varsity, or some who never even played JV. It’s a big difference going from a freshman team to varsity.”
Fiuczynski and Mathew each scored nine goals to lead the team, while Fiuczynski had seven assists and Mathew added five.
The group began the season with many players being strangers to each other, but that changed in just three months.
“The best part about playing with this team was creating new relationships and growing them not only into good teammates but great friends,” Portilla said. “We all grew together and learned from each other. It was crazy to see how every single player developed and some even surprised me with the skill they showed.
“I know I’m not the only one that will remember this season forever and I am so grateful I could share my last season with such a special and talented group of guys.”
WW-P High School South senior Pedro Portilla pursues the ball against two players from Princeton High School on Oct. 16, 2021. (Photo contributed by Pamela Grund.),
