Team of the Year: Waldwick
As one of the state’s top small-school programs, Waldwick made it back to the Group 1 final and won a second-straight sectional title, defeating Wallington in the North 1, Group 1 sectional final.
However, this season was far from smooth sailing. Several inexperienced players stepped into starting roles after the team lost eight starters from the previous year. After a 5-0-2 start, its momentum began to slow down after injuries to Daniel Perdomo and Alex Manziano, two of Waldwick’s best-attacking players. However, these injuries gave a number of underclassmen a chance to step up, as players like sophomore midfielder Julian Ruehlemann (10 goals, five assists) and sophomore forward Victor Lara (five goals, one assist) were crucial to Waldwick’s success all season long.
Waldwick shared the NJIC Patriot Division title with Park Ridge, as both teams would finish the regular season with a 7-2-1 divisional record. Waldwick started getting healthy just in time for the state tournament, and things began to click.
Waldwick posted 17 goals and four shutouts in the five state tournament games leading up to the Group 1 final. And while it just came up short against Haddon Township in the Group 1 final, head coach Jonathan Noschese along with longtime assistant Sean Cosgrove (who was named the Bergen County Assistant Coach of the Year), deserve a ton of credit for getting the program back into state title contention for another season.
Coach of the Year: Travis Powers, Bergen Charter
After years of middling success in the NJIC, Bergen Charter emerged as one of the conference’s biggest surprises this season. Powers led Bergen Charter to its most successful season in program history, going 16-5 in the 2022 season, capturing the NJIC Meadowlands Division title for the first time ever.
Powers, who took over as head coach in 2017, has slowly built this young soccer program into a legitimate small school contender in Bergen County. Until the arrival of Powers, Bergen Charter had never recorded a winning season since fielding its first varsity roster in 2013. Since his arrival, Powers has had three winning seasons in the last six years, with a 10-win season in 2018 and an 11-win season in 2019. After struggling in 2020 and 2021, Powers quickly got Bergen Charter back on track with the program’s best record to date.
Under the leadership of Powers, Bergen Charter saw a number of talented players blossom into stars this season. Christopher Marroquin emerged as one of the best midfielders in the conference, tallying 21 goals and 14 assists. After a terrific freshman campaign, sophomore Nicholas Pastula continued his forward trajectory with 14 goals and 10 assists. Senior midfielders Anthony Garcia (12 goals, 13 assists) and Fatjon Cekici (six goals, five assists) helped control the midfield, while junior defender Danny Garcia anchored the back line.
