MANAHAWAKIN – The Rams of Southern Regional are seeking their seventh consecutive A South division title, and with a 6-1 overall record and 3-0 mark in divisional play, they are well on their way.
Southern opened the season with two statement victories, defeating Howell, 9-3, and Holmdel on the road, 6-5. They followed that up with an 11-4 win over Toms River South, a 6-5 overtime win over Rumson-Fair Haven, a 7-5 triumph of Brick Memorial, and a 9-4 win over Jackson Memorial.
The only blemish on the Rams’ schedule thus far is a one-goal overtime loss to Freehold Township.
“Our first goal every year to start the season is to take of business in house in Class A South,” Southern head coach John Pampalone said. “With our big win over Jackson, that puts us at 3-0 with three games remaining. We’re hoping we can continue to take care of our business and take home another A South championship.”
Having already won six straight division titles, Pampalone, who is in his 12th year as the head coach and 16th overall year on the coaching staff, credits the longevity to this success to the development of his players.
“We have a great feeding system and we’ve got a lot of positive energy,” Pampalone said. “We’ve been hit pretty hard with graduation over the last few years, but there’s always a next-man-up mentality. We always have good young players who are chomping at the bit to get to the varsity field and when they do, they’ve been playing really well.”
A pair of juniors lead the offensive attack for Southern. Aniello Russo leads the squad with 22 points (15 goals, four assists) while Nick Fontana, who tallied 92 points as a sophomore, has with 16 goals and four assists. Two senior midfielders in Ryan Comfort and Ryan McWhorter are both four-year varsity letter winners who have big leaders for the program. Sophomore Cade Johnson recorded nine goals as a freshman and is off to a strong start to his sophomore campaign, with four goals and two assists. Luke Maul has 65 saves in goal for the Rams, his first year as the starting varsity goalie.
Last year, the Rams went to the South Jersey Group 4 semifinals, where they lost to Lenape. Their goal every year is to get to the final four of South Jersey Group 4, and this year is no exception. They schedule tough opponents at certain times throughout the season for a reason.
“We try to schedule some of the tougher teams in the Shore early and then get into our A South season,” Pampalone said. “We’ve played Mainland the last few years and they are off to an incredible start this year. They’re a really solid program and that will be a great tune-up for the Shore Conference Tournament. We try to get a game against a quality school right before the state tournament to get our kids ready. We want to challenge ourselves and play some of the better teams that we can put on our schedule.
“This is a young group that has really come together well so far. Sitting at 6-1, with our only blemish an overtime loss to a very good Freehold team, I’m very happy with this group and the way they have come together. I’m hoping for another A South championship and a lot of postseason success.”
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