Jackson boys soccer clinches A South title
BY MIKE WHITE Staff Writer

JACKSON - A week ago, Jackson High School boys soccer coach Steve Bado felt as if his squad had blown its chances to capture the A South title.

"We had our fate in our hands and we kind of squandered it away," Bado said. "We were in a good spot, but then we got knocked off."

But in the highly competitive A South Conference, funny things can happen. While Jackson posted a win over Southern, both Toms River East (TRE) and Toms River South (TRS) were upset.

Hence, Jackson snuck in the back door to capture the A South regular-season title by a single point. It marks the first time since he took over three seasons ago that Bado has won the division. Bado cited the parity around the conference as leaving no team safe from being upset.

"It is unbelievable how tough this conference is this year," Bado said. "There are a bunch of teams out here who are capable of knocking off anybody on any given day. You can't take any teams or games for granted. If you're not focused and ready to play day in and day out, you're setting yourself up to get knocked off."

Once TRS and TRE got upset early last week, all Jackson needed to do was beat Southern Regional. Bado and his crew knew the importance of the game last Friday. Jackson scored early and often and rolled to a resounding 6-1 victory.

"We've had a real good season so far," Bado said. "But winning the conference gives us an additional shot of confidence as the postseason gets ready to start. We realized that if we knocked off Southern, the title was ours. We were ready to play that day. We felt as if we were getting a second chance to win A South. We wanted to make the most of it."

The Jags netted three goals in the opening 25 minutes and built an insurmountable halftime cushion.

"This is the last time all these guys are going to be together as a team," Bado said. "They have been playing for four years together. This was important for them to capture this conference title."

Andrew Ventura, Matt Allen, Kevin Gorr, Jeff Benitente, Matt Riley and Cory Weissman, all scored for Jackson, which improved to 11-3-2 overall. Roberto Ferrantelli and Gorr each contributed an assist, while teammate Alex Morgans made six saves in goal during the first half.

"We got a lot of people involved in this win," Bado said. "We moved the ball well and got a lot of people touches. We need to be this balanced in the postseason as well. We don't want teams keying on just one guy. We can score goals from a lot of different places. That's one of the reasons we can be a dangerous team in the playoffs."

Last year, Jackson advanced to the semifinals of the Shore Conference Tournament before bowing out. Bado is hoping to repeat another strong performance.

"There are so many good teams involved in this tournament, that anything can happen," Bado said. "If we don't make a bunch of mistakes and remain focused, we're going to have an opportunity to have a good tournament. We'll take things on a game-by-game basis."