While some players pad their stats by scoring goals in games that have long been decided, Casey Sapienza scores goals that help to decide games.
On opening day, with the West Windsor-Plainsboro boys soccer team trailing Hightstown 3-2 at halftime, coach Matt Coburn delivered a halftime speech imploring someone to step up and be a hero. Sapienza promptly scored a game-tying goal that sparked the Pirates to an eventual 5-4 overtime victory.
“We were making the call, and he came out and answered,” Coburn said.
Sapienza was modest about his first career goal, saying “Coach preaches resilience and that goal that I scored was a team effort. Giovanny (Lisi) passed it to Christian (Fiuczynski) who passed it to me. I was just in the right spot at the right time making that run.”
One week later, WW-PS was in a scoreless battle with Trenton when Sapienza broke the deadlock with a goal in what would become a 2-0 win.
“He goes forward and lays this fantastic shot, you had to see it to believe it,” Coburn said. “He’s on the 30 yard line and gets it to hook just right to catch the bottom right hand corner. That gave us a 1-0 lead and made it more possible for us to win because Trenton changed tactics as the minutes were winding down, and we won 2-0.”
Two days after that, the senior tallied the game’s lone goal with 18 minutes left in what would become a 1-0 victory over Lawrence.
“He’s been there for us,” said Coburn, whose team was 4-3 through Sep. 22. “He’s been answering the call every time and his confidence is just growing each time he gets one in the back of the net. It’s fantastic.”
It’s also the culmination of a tremendous off-season work ethic put forth by Sapienza; whose major thought process since the end of last year was to become a varsity starter.
The West Windsor resident has been a soccer player since age 4, starting in the WWP Soccer Association. After playing several sports growing up, he eventually whittled it down to strictly soccer “because that’s really my passion.” He joined the Grover middle school team in eighth grade and played on the Pirates freshman team in ninth grade.
Covid hit during his sophomore year but Sapienza joined the Match Fit travel program, which allowed him to continue to progress.
Casey was happy to make varsity as a junior but that excitement was short lived when the coaches could not find a spot for him.
“He showed a lot of promise, a lot of tough grit and determination,” Coburn said. “He was kind of phased down when we tried to figure out who we wanted in our back four, and there were some other guys that rose up to the challenge. So we just didn’t know where we could make this guy fit.”
His seat on the bench did not make Casey happy, but it did make him think. And his thoughts always led back to one thing – this won’t happen as a senior.
“After last year I kind of made it my mission to have a starting spot on this team,” he said. “My teammates from last year really inspired me. I wanted to be like that, I wanted to do that. Their success (an 11-8-3 record) kind of motivated me to push myself. So during the off-season for school I switched my club team (to Princeton FC) and I started getting a lot better, I learned a lot more technical ability, stuff like that.”
Even as a junior, the work ethic was unquestioned. Coburn said he had to chase Sapienza out of the weight room every day in order to get him to practice on time.
Once the season ended, Sapienza ramped it up even further. He joined a gym that he visited regularly in order to increase his strength, speed and stamina. When WWPS attended pick-up games at Bob Smith Soccer Academy, Casey was there. The same with the Hun summer league, along with a league in Westhampton.
“He was really making soccer a focal point once the season was over,” Coburn said. “He totally changed his physique and his mentality; everything about him.”
When Sapienza returned this summer, the coach put him at left midfield and right forward “because he’s just able to work off the ball. He went from working with our top guys from last year to becoming a top guy this year.”
Sapienza not only improved his physique, but his skills. Using his footwork and speed he is able to take up ample space, and Coburn noted he can get from midfield to the 18 “in no time flat.”
“I like playing out on the wing,” Sapienza said. “I pride myself on my physical fitness that I can run past players and use my pace better. That’s one of my strong suits in how I perform.”
His overall physical improvement has led to an increased confidence.
“I don’t really question myself, if I see something I do it,” Sapienza said. “You don’t really have time to question yourself. That’s what it’s all about, that’s how you make decisions on the field.”
He leaves nothing to chance, however, and spends ample time studying himself and other teams on video provided by HUDL.
“What I study is what I can improve on, and what my teammates can improve on as well,” he said.
In looking at how hard Casey worked in the off-season; Coburn said he never really had a talk with him about insisting he must step up his off-season regiment. The coach basically just floated a few thoughts out there.
“We had conversations about where he thought he was mentally, and just having to be a little more introspective in terms of what he is capable of,” Coburn said. “But to me, mostly it was that he just saw last year ‘I’m playing for the first time ever on varsity, I’m seeing these guys who are ahead of me, and that’s where I have to be.’
“He’s proud of himself and his teammates are very proud of him too.”
Casey Sapienza has worked hard to be a varsity starter for the Pirates boys’ soccer team. ,
