The Robbinsville High boys soccer team is entering a brave new world. For the first time in program history, the Ravens wear the mantle of Defending State Champion after winning the NJSIAA Group III title last autumn.
“It’s new territory, that’s for sure,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “It feels good knowing what we accomplished last year and knowing we’ve got a lot of those guys back that experienced it so we can follow it up with a strong season.”
Senior center defensive midfielder Giacomo Bottoni agreed, saying “It’s a completely different perspective for us because Robbinsville’s had a tough few years. But it just gives us more of a motivation to stay on top and not fall short of expectations.”
It is an opportunity for RHS to prove that last year was not a one-hit wonder. It doesn’t have to win it all again, but flirting with another championship would say a lot about where the Ravens are as a program.
“There are guys,” Fisher said, “that are eager to show that ‘Hey, we can come out and put together another really good season and show that Robbinsville soccer has really grown and is a team that’s gonna go out there and compete for championships year in and year out.’”
Versatile senior midfielder/forward Stefano Muscara is one of the team’s hungrier players and won’t be satisfied with anything less than a state title in his senior campaign. Despite playing in pain the first 10 games of last season, Muscara collected four goals and six assists. Finally, a visit to the doctor revealed a broken back, sidelining him for the remainder of the campaign.
“After being injured in the state run last year I want nothing more than to go back to that and win it really bad while I’m playing with my team,” Muscara said. “It was so painful to watch. I wanted to get out there and help my team so bad. Just watching from the sidelines . . . I was so happy they won, but I wanted to do it myself too.”
Muscara is one of several players who suffered injury last season, and yet the Ravens never blinked as the “next man up” mentality was in full force. And because so many underclassmen got playing time due to injuries, the team now features ample experience.
“We have a lot of depth on this team and I have a lot of faith in the underclassmen,” Bottoni said. “They showed they can step up last year and I’m feeling good going into the season.”
Muscara’s thoughts are along the same lines.
“I think we’ll be better,” he said. “I think we’ll have some underclassmen step up and I think that our offense that’s returning will be better than ever. We’re all more experienced, all in the prime of our soccer careers. I think we’ll do very well.”
Granted, the Ravens have to replace the graduated Sean Smith, who earned CVC Player of the Year honors from one daily paper last season, and All-CVC goalie Ronit Rijhwani. They also lost a few other starters, but have plenty of talent returning.
The biggest strength will be a senior-dominated offensive trio of midfielder Bora Turker (13 goals, 3 assists), who has been the team’s leading scorer all three years he has played, and twin brother forwards Adrian Ivanov (10, 6) and Alex Ivanov (4,13). Where each will be on the field could change from game to game.
“We might mix things up, move guys around and play different formations with how we want to attack teams,” Fisher said. “Alex is more of a central player, Adrian is more wide. (Senior) Daniel Silva is playing more in the center. Giacomo is more like a holding center-mid for us.
“(Junior) Ethan Pagani had some big moments for us last year as a sophomore and looks really good. Mitch Shapiro is a junior who’s gonna be pushing some of these seniors. The juniors and some of the sophomores are really pushing our seniors. I think it’s gonna be good for the overall team.”
The big question is in the back, where Robbinsville graduated three starters along with its keeper. But there are still players with experience remaining. Senior Ethan Brown played numerous minutes before getting hurt, and senior Jason Testa stepped in after an injury to play well in the state tournament. Sophomore Max Goldberg is also being counted on, and others who could rotate in are sophomore Nico Matthews, junior Nick Grippa and senior Tyler Cohen.
“There’s some guys we’re trying to figure out,” Fisher said. “But we have guys back there where it won’t be their first varsity experience. They played last year, maybe at different positions, but they still got some experience.”
The new goalie is junior Brody Kaplan, who Fisher said, “looks really good so far this summer. I’m looking forward to seeing how he does.”
So a solid cast is in place, as the Ravens are not just talented, but deep.
There is one hitch, however. They have become everyone’s big game.
“(Fisher) tells us all the time we can’t take it easy,” Bottoni said. “We have to keep pressuring and we’re the team to beat and we have to keep playing to the best of our abilities and show that.”
“Every game we expect teams to bring their all and I think we’re kind of accepting that already,” Muscara added “Now it’s more like ‘OK let’s do it again.’”
That is the attitude that Fisher began preaching throughout the summer and since training camp started.
“I just keep telling them ‘You guys are gonna have a target on your back,’” said the reigning Colonial Valley Conference Coach of the Year. “‘The CVC is going to be incredibly competitive this year. You’re not gonna get anybody coming out here giving their C game against you. Everyone’s gonna have their A game trying to beat you and say they beat a group champion from last year.’
“We have to prepare, we have to go into every game knowing we have to prove ourselves. No one is going to come in and be scared of us just because we won a state championship. We gotta go out and earn it again this year.”
One thing Fisher has done to prepare his team is provide a tough pre-season scrimmage schedule, including Group II state champion Delran, a Howell team that went 13-4-2 and was seeded first in CJ Group IV, and Spotswood (11-7). Regular-season non-conference games include St. Peter’s Prep, which was a South Jersey Non-Public A finalist, and always-competitive Shore Regional.
“We want to challenge ourselves, kind of prepare ourselves for these tournament runs because you get to a point where you’re not playing anybody who’s not good,” Fisher said. “Sometimes it’s about the teams that are mentally tougher in the right situations and take advantage of those situations to win games. We want to put ourselves in that kind of position.”
Another goal for the Ravens is to reach the Mercer County Tournament finals. They missed out last year by losing to Fisher’s brother Bryan and his Notre Dame team in the semifinals. Beating the Irish is also something that this group has yet to do.
The bottom line for Robbinsville is that just because it has numerous starters back from a state championship team, it doesn’t guarantee another title despite what onlookers feel.
“Everybody is saying ‘Oh you have a good team coming back you’re gonna go back to back,’” Fisher said. “I think what we learned is that it’s really hard to win a state championship. It’s not necessarily going to be a success or a failure if we don’t win a state championship, but let’s give ourselves the opportunity. We have guys with experience, hopefully we can use that experience to put up another banner.”
Fisher is sure of one thing. No matter where the destination is, he is going to enjoy the heck out of the journey.
“Mostly, it will be really fun because of the group of kids I have out here,” he said. “This senior class is a special class, they’re fun to be around. The juniors and sophomores are just a really fun group. Any nerves kind of get overshadowed by some of the humor and the funny things some of the guys are saying from day to day. They’re just a great group of kids.”
Who hope to do great things for a second straight season.
RHS boys soccer team players Stefano Muscara (left), Giacomo Bottoni, Tyler Cohen, Jason Testa, Daniel Silva and Ethan Brown by Rich Fisher. (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
