Story and photo by Jay Cook
Last spring, newly-appointed Christian Brothers Academy head coach Tom Mulligan addressed his team for the first time as the leader after taking over from longtime coach Dan Keane. During the meeting, which was held in Room 416, he laid out the Colts’ blueprints for success on the pitch starting in the fall.
From a homeroom conversation to raising a plaque under the lights at Kean University this past Sunday, the CBA Colts captured the NJSIAA Non-Public “A” Championship under the guidance of their beloved coach.
“To me personally, it’s gratifying because we as a program set this goal of November 13th way back in April, as soon as I got hired,” Mulligan said after the win. “I had a meeting with the entire program and I said ‘November 13th, Kean University, we’re going to bring a trophy back to Lincroft.’”
After falling 2-0 in last year’s championship match against Delbarton School, the Colts captured their first title since 2011 in a win over Seton Hall Prepatory School this past weekend in a 1-0 thriller.
Led by a core group of 13 seniors, CBA set the pace for soccer in New Jersey all season long. Much can be said about the Colts’ efforts over the weekend, but none stands out more than star midfielder and Bucknell University commit, Matt Thorsheim.
An absolute bright spot for CBA in 2016, Thorsheim ended his senior season with 14 goals and 22 assists – both career highs – yet his last high school goal will be the one he remembers most.
After a score of nil-nil at the midway point, CBA began finding some holes in SHP’s defense. In the 73rd minute of action, forward Matt Mawson found Thorsheim in front of the net, and a left-leg boot knocked in the only goal of the game.
“Just so much excitement, so much adrenaline,” Thorsheim said of how he felt after the final whistle. “We are so ecstatic about the win. You know, we played so hard all season, and we are just so blessed; it’s unbelievable.”
Mawson, who had two possible goals sail only inches over the crossbar on each attempt, did not let those close-calls put him down. He fed Thorsheim the pass that changed the match.
“Me and Matt, we always make that run for each other all the time, and we score so much off it, so I knew exactly where he was going,” Mawson said of his assist. “Me and Matt have been playing together for 10 years now, so I know him pretty well, and he knows me pretty well.”
Offensively, coach Mulligan’s philosophy of controlling the ball and clock equally was the deciding factor in the game.
“We had a few chances that we didn’t capitalize on in the first half, and a few in the second half, but eventually Matt Thorsheim showed his true colors,” Mulligan said. “He’s one of the best players in the school’s history and we demonstrated that tonight. He’s a big-time player that scores big-time goals in big-time games.”
A tough-nosed, gritty defensive effort by CBA all but secured the win down inside the remaining seven minutes of regulation. Goalkeeper Aedan Boriotti, who added on yet another clean sheet for the 2016 campaign, said that it was CBA’s system that won the game.
“Well, it’s not my style of goalkeeping, it’s just the team in general; we’re just a strong team,” he said. “Defense is amazing, our midfielders are coming back and helping out on defense. Everyone’s pitching in on defense, and that’s really what it is.”
CBA finished 2016 with an assertive record of 24-1 – the best in the school’s history. Surely, this will be a season that the Colts will remember for quite a while.
“It means so much to us, you know? We love each other, we’re brothers,” Thorsheim said. “We’re such a close group and I wouldn’t have wanted to win it with anybody else.”
But it was that collective of 13 seniors – whom Mulligan led and guided to an all-time great CBA team – that made the difference.
“It’s a little bittersweet that we’re not going to have practice this week and we’re not going to have any more games because I have thoroughly enjoyed this senior class as much as any group of players I’ve ever coached in the past,” Mulligan said.
