By Miles Park ’16, Staff Writer

All Newark Academy sports teams encounter unique, and sometimes overwhelming, challenges; however, the 2014 men’s soccer team is facing an entirely new challenge: the top conference in Essex County. Like most Newark Academy sports teams, men’s soccer competes in the Super Essex Conference (SEC), a conference that includes most of the public and private schools within Essex County. Last year the Minutemen rode some impressive victories to be crowned Liberty Division Co-Champions. This result, combined with a strong conference showing 2 years ago, lead to the Minutemen’s promotion to the top division in Essex County.

While many predicted Newark Academy to finish towards the bottom of a conference filled with massive public schools and soccer powerhouses, starting midfielder Rory Tell stated that the team had “earned [their] place in the top conference” and “could compete with anyone”. A school the size of Newark Academy will always struggle to match up against massive public schools like West Orange. As Head Coach James Morris put it “it simply comes down to numbers” (West Orange has 8 times the enrollment of Newark Academy). Morris went on to compare the team to his home country of Wales in that “we can produce some elite players but lack the strength in depth of other teams”. This trend was evident in an excruciating overtime loss at the hands of West Orange where only 12 players touched the field for Newark Academy, while West Orange was able to mix and match with 19 different players throughout the game.

After outplaying rivals MKA but disappointingly losing the game 2-1, the overtime defeat to West Orange in the second game of the season was especially deflating. West Orange, currently ranked #5 in the State, was supposed to come in and blow Newark Academy off the pitch. However, Newark Academy came back from a 1-0 second half deficit to send the game into overtime, only for the game to end on a highly controversial West Orange goal in which several West Orange attackers seemed to be offside. Star defender Seth Wilensky called the no-call “absolutely absurd” going on to say that the loss was “extremely disappointing because the team fought so hard and really deserved a positive result”. While it was a valiant effort, there are no points for effort, only for results. Newark Academy went on to lose at traditional powerhouse Millburn and finish that week in the pouring rain with a frustrating 1-goal loss to State #12 Gill St Bernard’s in a non-conference game, ending the week with an unsatisfying 0-4 record. When commenting on the week’s events, starting goalkeeper Brett Luing simply stated “losing sucks”, a sentiment echoed throughout the team.

The mental fortitude of the team was on display during games like when the team rebounded to comfortably handle Columbia High School with a 3-0 home win, the first of the season. Easy victories like this will be few, as the Minutemen will have to work hard and grind out every result. But, that’s what makes it meaningful, argues Wilensky. “Nothing will come easy, but that’s why we love sports, for the competition,” he said, “ To be the best you have to beat the best.” While the early results against top competition have not been great, Coach Morris thinks that the team “has shown the ability to compete with anyone,” later saying that he “knows that the team has the quality to turn over any team, the lads just need to continue believe it.” With nationally ranked Seton Hall Prep on the horizon, the team is going to need all the belief they can muster.