Salem Tech boys soccer opens its season with a shutout, NJTAC Tournament win over Cape May Tech, includes full tournament pairings
NJTAC TOURNAMENT
No. 1 Essex Tech bye
No. 9 Sussex Tech at No. 8 Warren Tech
No. 12 Morris Tech at No. 5 West Caldwell Tech
No. 13 Perth Amboy Tech at No. 4 Woodbridge Academy
No. 11 East Brunswick Tech at No. 6 Edison Academy
No. 14 Piscataway Tech at No. 3 Somerset Tech
No. 7 Salem Tech 4, No. 10 Cape May Tech 0
No. 15 Medford Tech at No. 2 Camden County Tech
| WHAT TO KNOW |
| Salem Tech wins first-round game in NJTAC Tournament |
| Logan Pace scores twice, Aiden Bobo posts shutout |
| Avery Reed, Carrington Profitt, both of whom missed considerable time last year to injury, each scored a goal in the opener |
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – A lot of Salem Tech’s soccer expectations last year were built around the availability of Avery Reed and Carrington Profitt. Both got hurt and missed considerable time and the Chargers’ fortunes fell.
The Chargers have high expectations this year and Reed and Profitt again are a big reason, one on the top end to score and distribute the ball, the other anchoring the back line of defense..
They returned Wednesday and made an immediate impact, scoring the Chargers’ first two goals of the season in a 4-0 win over Cape May Tech in the opening round of the NJTAC Groups 1-2 Tournament. The seventh-seeded Chargers will play the Medford Tech-Camden County Tech winner on a date to be determined.
“They were a big part of our plans last year and when both of them went down it kind of had an impact, for sure,” Chargers coach Rob Polk said. “We saw a little bit today of what we expected to see last year, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what these two can bring to the table the rest of the season.
“From the standpoint of the whole group, coming into preseason, Coach (Mark Kasubinski) and I talk about it all the time, we haven’t had a group since this program started that came in more fit, ready to play. We were excited from Day One. There was something about this year just felt different. We’re only one game in, but the style of play we want was showing itself today, playing against a team that the last two years always seemed to be a close game and we weren’t able to come through.”
They did on this day, though. Reed, who played only two games last year because of a hip flexor injury that impacted him the rest of the school year, scored the Chargers’ first goal of the season in the sixth minute. Profitt, who missed considerable time with a hamstring issue, scored the second goal six minutes later on a 30-yard free kick.
Logan Pace, the team’s heart and soul up the middle to Profitt’s rock in the back, scored the Chargers’ other two goals. Josh Woroniak had a pair of assists and Aiden Bobo made six saves in posting the shutout.
Reed wasted little time showing he was back. Pace got the play going when he pushed the ball through traffic, Woroniak controlled it and fed it to Reed who was one-on-one with Wildcats keeper J.J. Wenker in the box and the sophomore nudged it into the left side of the goal.
Reed scored a goal against the Wildcats last year, but he also felt responsible for giving up the game-winner right before the end of overtime.
“Last season missing a lot of games I wanted to come back and do something,” he said. “I had a lot of potential last year and I was supposedly going to be a starter, scoring a lot of goals, then I sat out, so I knew I had to do that this year coming into the season.”
Profitt typically takes the team’s longer free kicks and was the choice for this one because two of the other options when the Chargers are looking for shots were both out of the game at the time and a third was injured. He lined up confidently, got it around the defensive wall the Wildcats set up and tucked it just inside the right post. Wenker got his hands on it, but his gloves were just too wet to keep the wet ball from slipping through.
“I’ve had a lot of chances, a lot of opportunities, it was good to finally put one in,” Profitt said. “I was thinking about just trying to give it a chip in and I heard somebody say he can shoot it. I’m like, you know what, I can. Let’s be confident in my shot, I took it and it looked good.
“I missed it so much (last year). I hated to sit on the bench watching my team. We were down a few players last year, there was a decent amount of us, so being back on the field, it feels great and getting my first goal is an amazing feeling. I’ve always wanted one. I knew I could get it and getting that finally is such an amazing feeling. I’m just hoping there are more opportunities. It’s my last year, I want to make it count, make the most of it.”
| Cape May Tech (0-2) | 0 | 0- | 0 |
| Salem Tech (1-0) | 3 | 1- | 4 |
GOALS: ST-Avery Reed (Josh Woroniak), 6:04; ST-Carrington Profitt (unassisted), 12:19; ST-Logan Pace (Avery Reed), 22:18; ST-Logan Pace (Josh Woroniak), 50:43
