A stacked Class B North division has gotten the better of Manasquan in this 2017 campaign, but the Warriors have shown that there isn’t much separating them from the division leaders..jpg)
“We’re close. I think we had one bad loss this year where we just didn’t come to play,” said Manasquan coach Tom McGill. “But we’ve been competitive in every game.”
Manasquan has played to a record of 3-8-1 on the year, but as McGill said, that mark doesn’t quite tell the entire story.
Seven of Manasquan’s eight losses have been by two goals or less (including three defeats by a slim one-goal margin).
One of those one-goal losses came against Class B North division leader Ocean Township, a 1-0 victory by the Spartans in which Manasquan out-shot their opponent, 8-6.
“I’m proud of the way our guys have battled all season long,” McGill said. “It may not have shown up in the win column as much as we would have liked, but you can’t fault these guys for their effort. It’s been there day in and day out from opening day.”
Opening day, however, did produce a win for the Warriors and big one at that, as Manasquan played host to divisional rival Monmouth Regional (a club sitting in third place in the Class B North standings) and downed the Falcons by a 1-0 decision on a goal by junior Matt Drake.
On Sept. 22 the Warriors snapped a five-game losing streak when they blanked Red Bank Catholic, 3-0, an outing in which freshman Tommy Johnson scored twice and sophomore Frank Manno added another.
Three days later Manasquan picked up another victory, this time a 2-1 win over non-divisional foe Point Beach in which Johnson and sophomore Chris Pierro led the offense.
Johnson leads the team in goal scoring with nine.
“He’s been great for us this season, and he’s a kid who really has a bright future,” McGill said of his super sophomore Johnson. “He’s a hard worker and really understands what sort of effort it takes to get better each day, to get something positive out of each workout. I can’t wait to see what he does the rest of the way.”
Manasquan has five regular season games remaining, including four divisional games.
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