The Delbarton Freshman Soccer Team, coached by John Thompson, had an outstanding season finishing the year at 16-1-1 and notching nine shutouts along the way.  The team faced off against national powerhouse St. Benedicts in the first game of the year after only a little over a week of practice.  The team played an outstanding game against Benedicts and, in many ways, out played them but fell 2-0.  Rather than become disheartened, the team redoubled its efforts to continue to improve and come together as a team.  The team went on to rattle off 15 wins in a row with key wins over Chatham, Hunterdon Central, Don Bosco, St Peters, and Chaminade. 

The team then faced a tough Dover team and ended with a disappointing 4-4 tie as it approached its last game against rival Seton Hall Prep.  Seton Hall was undefeated and fielded another impressive team.  Yet, in the last game of the year at Ryan Field, the freshman team saved its best soccer for last, beating Seton Hall 3-0 and playing all 27 players in the game.  The team was led by co-captains Marcus Arthur and Owen Miller and quickly developed into one of the best freshmen teams we have seen at Delbarton in years.  Over the course of the season the team scored 90 goals and gave up only 18 on the year.  The scoring was provided by many players on offense including Henry Kovacs, Owen Miller, Skanda Damaruju, Franco Piarulli, Marcus Arthur, Benjamin Raab, and Dylan Palenthchar. 

Moreover, the team had a stout defense led by Peter Lines, Will Antenen, Luc Guarino , Aiden Ponzio, Will Plank, and Matt O'Reilly.  In addition, key substitutes off the bench included Sthir Khandelwal, Nicky Raccanelli, James Weidener, and Liam Goldberg.  The team may have had one of the best trios at goal in recent history with Sebastian Rubio, Frankie Zupa, and Rob Lannon as stand out keepers.  More impressive than the wins and losses and goals scored, though, was the way the team conducted itself all year long.  They embraced the program's mantra of Character, Unity and Professionalism.  The team only received one yellow card the entire year and never had a serious incident in practice or in a game that would tarnish the reputation of Delbarton Soccer. 

As the season came to an end, Owen Miller and Henry Kovacs were called up to the varsity team to give an added punch up top.  It is the first time in recent memory that two freshman players were called up to the varsity during the season.  While there have been many great freshman teams over the years, this team has made a strong argument that they are one of the best that we have seen here at Delbarton School.

Congrats to the entire team and Coach Thompson and his staff on an incredible season.