CBA Comes out the Victor in Contest of Rivals

By Jim Hintelmann
LINCROFT – Although they are long time rivals in some sports, Christian Brothers Academy and Red Bank Catholic have rarely met on the soccer field.
Monday was one of those rare times when the two teams got together in the semifinals of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public South A playoffs. A 3-1 upset win over second-seeded Gloucester Catholic made it possible.
Not unexpectedly, there was a huge crowd at the game. CBA made the home fans happy with a 4-0 shutout.
The win puts the Colts into the sectional finals when they will play fifth- seeded Notre Dame of Lawrenceville Thursday (after press time) at Eastern High School. Notre Dame had upset top-seeded St. Augustine Prep of Richland Monday.
“We’re playing pretty well now,” CBA coach Dan Keane said. “This was our eighth shutout this season and we are on a pretty good streak. The kids are confident.”
The game was scoreless until the 11th minute when Jon Fryck received a long pass from Connor Gilmore and kicked it in.
Sophomore Matt Thorsheim followed with the first of his two goals 2 minutes later by scoring from in close following a scramble.
“Russ (Romano) beat his man down the line and played the ball into me,” Thorsheim said. “I had a tough angle but I was able to kick the ball into the goal.”
Thorsheim made it 3-0 score 4 minutes into the second half when he took a long cross from Dean Canale and headed the ball in from about 7 yards out.
RBC played much better in the second half and had several good scoring opportunities but couldn’t convert. CBA’s Deven Bhattachayra closed out the scoring by lofting a high shot from 25 yards away into the net
“This is the first time this group has been on a big stage like this,” RBC coach Justin Meehan said. “It took a little while to get used to the surroundings and realizing how good they were.
“If we came out and played well right from the beginning, the score might have been closer,” he said.
While RBC finished at 3-10-1 with its senior-dominated team, Meehan is optimistic about next season.
“We had two freshmen that they played key minutes,” Meehan said, “but the core of the team is seniors. Losing them will hurt but we have some younger kids that will get better.
“We’ve been playing pretty well lately. We’ve improved with each game. This is a tribute to the hard work of the kids.”