St. Benedict’s Prep shared the Super 25 national title last season (Photo: St. Benedict’s Prep)
St. Benedict’s Prep (Newark, N.J.) returns only three starters from a team that shared the Super 25 national championship with St. Ignatius (Cleveland) last fall.
That might give a coach pause, but not Gray Bees coach Jim Wandling. Nine national titles will do that.
“We try to create a culture, year after year, with guys buying into the same tradition and rituals,” he said. “Although the faces may change, we expect the players to invest themselves in the culture, the training programs and the preparation, and then the product will also be of high quality.”
Adding to the expectations: the No. 1 ranking in the USA TODAY High School Sports/National Soccer Coaches Association Preseason Super 25 for boys fall soccer.
RANKINGS: Full Super 25 Boys Soccer Preseason rankings
“We’re certainly aware of who we are and we’re certainly aware of our history,” Wandling said. “We lean on that. We use the fact that we’ll have a big bullseye on our jersey as one of the top programs in the country. We’re going to face difficult challenges game in and game out because everyone likes to be the team that knocks off St. Benedict’s.”
Among the faces who are gone are 20 seniors who played together at the youth and club levels as well as high school. That includes Gatorade New Jersey State Player of the Year Johnny Antunes. Last season, the team never trailed during an 18-0 run.
The returning starters are Mickey George, Joey Alba and Louis Silva and they are joined by a number of high-quality transfers. “I think they will help round out a very solid first 11,” Wandling said.
Among the transfers are Michael Tahiru from Ghana and Celio Martins from Brazil.
“We think (Martins) will add his name to the list of special players to have come through St. Benedict’s in the last 25 years,” Wandling said. “We’re really excited about what he can do going forward.”
Stephen Milhoan (Photo: St. Ignatius High School)
Coming off a co-Super 25 championship, St. Ignatius returns 13 players, including seven starters from a team that went 22-0-1 and won the school’s second consecutive and seventh Ohio large school state championship.
Chief among the returnees is senior Stephen Milhoan, the reigning Gatorade Ohio State Player of the Year.
Wesleyan Christian Academy (High Point, N.C.) is No. 3 after finishing at that spot in the 2015 Super 25. Wesleyan won its second consecutive NCISAA 3A state title and fourth crown in the last five years.
Marquette University High in Milwaukee is No. 4 and Chaminade (Mineola, N.Y.) rounds out the Top 5 after finishing seventh to end last season.
In all, 20 states are represented in the Preseason Super 25. New York leads with three teams: Chaminade, No. 12 Walt Whitman (South Huntington) and No. 22 Brentwood. New Jersey, Wisconsin and Ohio each has two teams.
The first Super 25 of the regular season is scheduled for Sept. 13. Regional rankings also begin Sept. 13.