Another huge week for Washington Township ended with a visit from an old friend.
The Minutemen picked up convincing wins over two other division leaders from the Tri-County Conference, beating Schalick 7-1 on Monday and Delsea 7-0 on Wednesday. Then on Friday, they earned their second 1-0 victory over Clearview this season to repeat as Royal Division champions.
Finally, on Saturday, second-seeded Washington Township handed 15th-seeded Glassboro a 4-1 loss in the first round of the South Jersey Coaches’ Cup. The only downside to that game for coach Shane Snyder is that it came at the expense of one of his former players, first-year Glassboro coach Chad Yates.
The Minutemen trailed at halftime for the first time all season, as Atakan Ozdemir scored his ninth goal of the year to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. But Drew Heil scored his team-leading 19th and 20th goals of the season after the break and Washington Township also got goals from Owen Cafferty and John DiNoto.
“It’s kind of weird,” Snyder said. “I would have rather played anyone else, because I always want them to win. I always look, did Glassboro win? So it’s fun but at the same time it’s strange. … I think it’s just the way the cards fell.”
Yates was a two-time South Jersey Times Player of the Year at Washington Township and a state champion in his senior season in 2018. He went on to play for four years at Rowan University, and after graduating earlier this year, landed his first head coaching job right away.
Snyder also coached his older brother Travis.
“His whole family is (into soccer),” he said. “I actually thought his older brother would go into coaching but he’s in mortgage sales. They think soccer, they breathe soccer. I thought he would be a good coach and he’s having an awesome year.”
Glassboro is 10-3 this season. This was the Bulldogs’ first appearance in the Coaches’ Cup since 2018.
Snyder has been coaching the boys program at Washington Township since 2010 and has more than 230 wins. He has guided the Minutemen to six sectional titles and three state championships.
Needless to say, there have been dozens of outstanding players throughout that time, and it only stands to reason that some would get into coaching.
“There are a lot of kids who came through who I thought could become good coaches because they’re knowledgeable and passionate,” Snyder said. “It’s awesome to see that Chad is getting an opportunity. The big guy is doing a great job with us: Our JV coach is Ed McCusker, who won a couple of state titles and Player of the Year. It’s exciting. I’m happy for these guys and proud of them.”
The Minutemen improved to 13-1 overall with the 4-0 week and will host seventh-seeded Cherry Hill West in the quarterfinals of the Coaches’ Cup on Monday.
ON THE REBOUND: Often when a team is in the middle of a lopsided loss, it is common to hear the players arguing with each other, making comments toward the officials or hanging their heads on the field. None of that was evident from Delsea during its game against Washington Township on Wednesday.
The Crusaders deserve a ton of credit for quickly putting the defeat in the rearview mirror and bouncing back on Friday in the first round of the Coaches’ Cup. The 13th seed, they knocked off fourth-seeded Rancocas Valley in penalty kicks and advanced in the tournament for the first time since 2010.
Junior Gavin Reissek scored his fourth goal of the season in the second half to tie the game at 1. After neither team could find the net in overtime, the game went to PKs, and Delsea finally prevailed in the seventh round of the shootout.
The Crusaders will face another Tri-County team, fifth-seeded Clearview, in the quarterfinals on Monday. The programs have not played this season, but Clearview edged Delsea 1-0 last fall.
UPSET CITY: Delsea’s win was one of many upsets in the first round of the Coaches’ Cup, the biggest being 16th-seeded Lenape’s 1-0 victory over top-seeded St. Augustine. Five of the eight opening-round games were won by the team with the worse seed.
Kingsway, the 14th seed, got in on the fun by blanking third-seeded Shawnee 2-0 on goals by Sean Kirwin and Logan Theodore. Goalie Maximus Bobadilla made four saves for the shutout.
The win was the third straight for the Dragons and avenged a 2-1 loss to the Renegades from Sept. 9. They are now 7-4-3 overall and will head to 11th-seeded Ocean City for the quarterfinals on Monday.
IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT: Schalick took command of the Tri-County Diamond Division race with a 3-1 win over Glassboro on Friday. Luke Price scored his team-high eighth goal of the season, while Bradford Foster netted his sixth and Michael Nelson his fifth. Anthony Sepers had two assists, increasing his team-leading total to eight.
That gave the Cougars a split of the season series with the Bulldogs and improved their division record to 7-1 with two Diamond games to play. If they can beat Penns Grove on Tuesday and Overbrook on Friday, they will have their fourth division title in the past five years.
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Matt Cosentino can be reached at [email protected]
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