Keeper turned scorer

Sepers comes out of the goal and snags one of two Schalick hat tricks in final regular-season home game

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – Evan Sepers has been Schalick’s regular goalkeeper for the past two seasons. It’s been his job to keep the other team from scoring – and he’s done a pretty good job of it. But in all that time he hasn’t forgotten how to score himself.

Cougars coach Joe Mannella gave his junior keeper a chance to play in the field again in the team’s final regular-season home game Monday and Sepers responded with three goals in a 7-0 rout of Salem Tech.

“It was fun,” Sepers said. “I haven’t been a field player since my freshman year and scoring three in a game today was reminiscent of my freshman year.”

Indeed. Sepers came to the Cougars as a forward and scored four goals as a freshman; twice they were the Cougars’ only goal of the match. But the next year Mannella need a keeper for a young team and Sepers athleticism and willingness to meet the challenge made him the choice.

He proved to be a strong last line of of a strong defense, posting nine shutouts – six in a row at one point late in the season – for a team that overcame its inexperience to play for the South Jersey Group I title. This year he has seven shutouts and the team is expected to be installed as the No. 1 seed in the upcoming South Jersey Group I tournament.

“He is a field player, (he) just played in goal last year because it was our best option,” Mannella said. “It was nice to see him get on the field and score some goals.”

Sepers, whose cousins Anthony and Louis Sepers have combined for 17 goals this season, scored twice in the first half and once in the second.

Wearing an extra jersey he grabbed from the bin to take the field (No. 17), he wasted no time getting on the board, volleying a pass from Braydon Matkowsky into the top corner three minutes into the match. He tapped in a bouncing ball later to give the Cougars a 3-0 halftime lead and completed the hat trick with the final goal of the match.

The goalie wasn’t the only player with three goals in the match. Freshman Connor Jackson notched his first career hat trick. Reyli Reyes scored the Cougars’ first goal in the opening 90 seconds.

When Sepers moved back to goalie last season, “I just figured I’d be in goal for the rest of my high school soccer career,” he said.

He asked Mannella about moving up on Senior Night to give backup goalie Lucas D’Agostino, a senior, a chance to shine on his night. The two split the game in goal.

He played striker the whole game Monday, but with the playoffs looming he’ll probably be back in his usual position stopping opponents’ shots for the foreseeable future. And he’s “great with that.”

But for one day at least he was pretty good at putting the ball in the net, too.

Cover photo: Here’s a screen shot from a submitted video of Evan Sepers completing his hat trick against Salem Tech. The full video can be found on the Riverview Sports News Facebook page.