Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 131

SUNDAY, DEC. 26, 1999 ASBURY PARK PRESS PAGE H7A1 MILLENNIUM COUNTDOWN From Renery to Kain to Johnson to Williams, Shore produces some of the nation 's finest male soccer stars i id? Press file photo Tom Kain, shown here in earned All-America honors at Wall dur-j ing his junior and senior seasons. r' IliWil: if By DAN CICHALSKI STAFF WRITER LOOKING BACK on a century of soccer in the Jersey Shore area is a short trip. The history of the sport in Monmouth and Ocean counties took off in 1962. Barely enough teams for a tournament existed when the Shore Conference acknowledged soccer that year, with Long Branch, Red Bank, Freehold, Monmouth, St Rose, Shore, Middletown, Toms River, Point Pleasant Boro and Brick the first schools to field teams.

Of course, back then, those were boys teams. The girls joined the party in the 1970s. Since then, soccer here has grown to include Saturday morning carpools, Shore Conference Tournament championship doubleheaders, state titles decided at the College of New Jersey, and a growing list of scholarships offered to local players. Among the best is Middletown's Richie Williams, marking defender for D.C. United, which won its third Major League Soccer Cup in the league's four-year existence last month.

Williams is a high-profile, recent reminder of what the Shore area can produce: some of the best players in the country and even the world. Before Williams came players like Len Renery and Tom Kain, superstars in their own time. Renery, an English immigrant, displayed soccer skills more advanced than those of his Shore peers. During his four years at Neptune 1962-65 the Scarlet Fliers won three consecutive conference titles. Renery then became an AU-American at Columbia before playing professionally, including time in the North American Soccer League with the New York Cosmos.

One thing Renery could not do win a state championship for Neptune Ed Rad-wanski took care of, but not until 1980 when he set up the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Columbia in the state final. At the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Radwanski earned two Division III championship rings before enjoying an outstanding professional career indoors. Neptune's neighbor, Wall, produced two of the best players in Kain and George Gel-novatch. Together, they helped the Crimson Knights to four straight NJSIAA Group III titles from 1978-81, dominating the Shore and Monmouth County on the way to making state history. Gelnovatch was one of the few players at Wall to see significant playing time as a straight from Howell to Florida to play professionally without any college experience.

Rob Johnson became a soccer household name in the early 90s, a starter for four years at Jackson before moving on to Rutgers, and then the MLS, where he played for the MetroStars in 1996 and '97. With the help of Carlos Vasco, the Jaguars went 21-1 in Johnson's final season, winning every title possible Class A South, the Shore Conference Tournament and Group IV. In Ocean County, Matt Kmosko rearranged the record books at Southern Regional. He became the school's all-time leading scorer with 44 goals and 12 assists. He continued to develop at Hartwick, and made six appearances with the U.S.

national team. Now playing in the MLS, he's donned the uniforms of the Colorado Rapids, Miami Fusion and Columbus Crew. Tom Reilly netted 58 goals in his Brick career 28 in his senior year alone. Success at South Carolina followed, and Reilly now coaches at Ocean Township. Of course, there's Williams, still starring for the United in the MLS.

At Mater Dei, Williams guided the Seraphs to four straight South Jersey Parochial titles. He continued the trend at Virginia, winning two NCAA championships under coach Bruce Arena, his current coach in D.C. and the new national team coach. Virtually every school in the Shore has had a hand in the history of boys soccer. Not every program can have the longstanding success or traditions of Wall and Neptune, or the history of Monmouth, the first Shore team to win a state title Group III in 1965.

Bob Dugan had 25 goals that season. Howell, in 1972, became the first undefeated Shore team, going 18-0 behind Kyen Ivanchukov, Angrik Stepanow, Zeron Ombadykow and Bemba Basilorow. Toms River East with players like Ted Gillen rode success in the mid-80s. CBA has been powerful with the likes of Dave and Ken Santos, Brad Johnson and Steve McKey. Raritan had a run of great teams and players from 1981-87, including Steve La-Mattina and Billy Gross, a member of the Rockets' 23-1-1 team in 1982.

Gary Sisto preceded Williams at Mater Dei and went to four straight state finals. And then there are players like Kyle LeBaron a deadly striker at Red Bank in the early 90s and Rusty Aaronson the best player Pinelands has seen who serve as reminders that not all the superstars play for the long-time powers. THE SHORE'S BEST BOYS SOCCER PLAYERS Rusty Aaronson, Pinelands; John Barrone, Wall; Bemba ri Basilorow, Howell; Rob Bechtloff, Brick Memorial; Mike Benson, Toms River East; Yada Carew, Jackson; Tony Monmouth; Bob Dugan, Monmouth; Gary Durkin, Neptune; Keith Engelhardt, 5 Freehold George Gelnovatch, Wall; Ted qu Toms River East; Billy Gross, -x woo Raritan; Doug Hamilton, Raritan; Kyen Ivanchukov, -tuni Howell; Sandje Ivanchukov, Howell; Tom Kain, Wall; Joe -lf Kelly, Middletown Matt, Kmosko, Southern; Franklin uu James, Long Branch; Brad Johnson, CBA; Rob Jackson; Steve LaMattina, We Raritan; Rick Lansing, St. Joseph's of Toms River (later Monsignor Donovan); Kyle LeBaron, Red Bank; Ken Press file photo Before joining the MetroStars in 1996, Rob Johnson was a four-year starter for Jackson. He then played at Rutgers.

in Durham, N.C., he won the Hermann Award, given annually to college's best player. Ken Lolla, a two-time All-State and All-America midfielder for St. Rose, played with Kain at Duke and went on to play professionally both indoors and outdoors. Lolla led the Purple Roses to consecutive South Jersey Parochial titles in 1977-78. Howell's Sandje Ivanchukov was one of the best all-around soccer players in Shore history.

The Tampa Bay Rowdies of the NASL made him one of the first high school draft picks in history in the mid-70s. Good enough to make the U.S. national team and the Rowdies, Ivanchukov went freshman. In four years he scored 83 goals, earned three All-Shore and two All-State nods, then went on to Virginia, where he was an All-American his senior year and left as the school's second-leading scorer in both goals (49) and total points (118). Kain earned All-Shore honors his last three seasons at Wall.

In his junior and senior years he was named All-State and All-America. His final three seasons, Wall put together a record of 67-7-3 and Kain finished his career with 56 goals and 35 assists. The New York Cosmos drafted him out of high school, but he went on to play at Duke, where he was honored three more times as an All-American. His senior year St. Rose; Pat McKenna, Howell; Steve McKey, CBA; Vinnie a ft ji ftv I 1.

1 no Pearce followed in footsteps of many area greats on her way to national stardom with Cup champions iviaggio, ivnuuieiuwri iNunn; rf no Zeron Ombadykow, Howell; Ed Radwanski, Neptune; Tom Rafferty, CBA; Tom Reilly, Len Renery, Neptune; John Russo, Raritan; Scott Point Boro; Dave Santos, CBA; Ken Santos, CBA; Glen Scarpelli, Brick Memorial; Stew Schilling, Freehold; Gary Sisto, Mater Dei; Angrik Stepanow, Howell; Rocky Strazella, Raritan; Carlos Vasco, Jackson; Tony Vega, Lakewood; Jeff Weiboldt, Brick; Tommy I TV kJ ft 4. n's?) rv' Christie Pearce recorded 50 goals and a school-record 37 assists at Monmouth College, following a record-breaking career at Point Pleasant Boro. She then went on to national fame with the U.S. women's team that captured the World Cup this summer. Press file photo Weiboldt, Brick; Richie Williams," Mater Dei.

I CMfiT YAK -It, i ii THE SHORE'S BEST I GIRLS SOCCER PLAYERS I if By DAN CICHALSKI STAFF WRITER THE SUCCESS of Point Pleasant's Christie Pearce and the United States national team this year gave women's soccer and women's sports unprecedented attention. They captured Al headlines, top slots on the highlight shows, and the hearts of a tuned-in nation not to mention the World Cup. But when Pearce was scoring six goals in a game for the Point Boro Panthers in the early 1990s, she was just like any other teenage three-sports star. Pearce followed in the footsteps of a spectacular group of girls soccer players at the Shore, when no career scoring mark seemed safe. But back then, the girls game at the Shore consisted of an isolated, private group who played in the spring season, when the rest of the state played during the fall.

When the Shore Conference moved girls soccer to the fall in 1996, local schools finally had the chance to face the rest of the state in the NJSIAA tournament Still, some of those pre-1996 players were among the best in the state. One of the best was Kristen Kurzynowski, a Middletown product and Red Bank Catholic deadly striker. She became the Shore's all-time leading scorer with a six-goal, four-assist game on May 19, 1988, surpassing Ocean's Meg Eberhardt, who accounted for 234 points in her career. That 1988 season, Kurzynowski and Mon-signor Donovan's Kim Brickner chased each other for the record. After scoring 102 successful teams in the early 90s, with the help of players like Kim Kamienski, Nickie Kelly and Jessica Portelli.

The Lions won three consecutive Shore Conference Tournament championships from 1991 to 1993. A spectacular athlete, Kamienski, a converted defender, scored 33 goals with 15 assists her junior and senior seasons. Kelly started all four years, scoring 40 goals and 34 assists. Portelli was the goalkeeper, leading the Lions to a No. 6 national ranking by the National Soccer Coaches Association in 1993.

When the Shore Conference moved girls soccer to the fall, Kerri Wright became the first local to be named to the Associated Press All-State team. Wright's 20 goals and 21 assists in 1996 helped St. Rose win the Shore Conference Tournament, advance to the Central Jersey Group I final, and finish 20-1. Denise Reddy was a defensive specialist for Raritan in the late 80s, moving from keeper to sweeper her senior year. She went on to co-captain the Rutgers team, playing with Kurzynowski and setting up the game-winning goal in the second overtime of the Scarlet Knights' 1990 ECAC championship game triumph.

Brick's Dana Zonkle ran track her first two years in high school, then switched to soccer. After beginning as a back for the Green Dragons, Zonkle moved up to the attacking line late in the 1989 season and netted 17 goals and five assists. She later earned a scholarship at Rutgers, where she joined Reddy and Kurzynowski. Zonkle assisted on the game-winning goal in Rutgers 1992 ECAC championship-clincher. Last summer, Zonkle played for the New Jersey Stallions, which has served many of these players throughout the years.

Two Brick seniors Crystal Petracorro and Kristen D' Antonio have continued the legacy of success. Petracorro finished her career with 272 points, including 107 goals. D' Antonio, set to play at Ohio State, put 89 balls into the net and assisted on 50 more. In 1994 St Rose's Maura McGhee saw her senior season end prematurely with a knee injury. Midway through that season she had 92 career goals.

Lacey's Dana Jurczyk finished with a school-record 99 goals and 34 assists. Wall defensive marvel Heather Garrett joined the list of local stars who played at Monmouth College. Wendi Pearce, Christie's older sister, not only made All-Shore in both soccer and field hockey, but she Is the reason Christie began playing the sport Kim Brickner, Monsignor Donovan; Sarah Campbell, Freehold; Tina Conti, Neptune; Kristen D'Antonio, Brick; Amy DeValue, Neptune; Robyn Dunn, Middletown North; Meg Eberhardt, Ocean; Suzanne ii Fulcher, Freehold; Heather ni Garrett, Wall; Kristy Hendrickson, Wall; Kim Kamienski, Middletown North; Nickie Kfclfy, Middletown Linda KurtyHa, Toms River North; Kris Kurzynowski, Red Bank Catholic; Dana Jurczyk, Lacey; Janine Leinweber, Memorial; Maura McGhee, St" Rose; Tara Nichols, Toms River Fact Pparrp Pnint Boro; Wendi Pearce, Point Hawks' all-time scoring list. Pearce is now recognized as one of the best athletes one of the fastest and best jumpers of the 20 stars on the women's national team. Pearce's 126 scholastic goals surpassed the 121 Stephanie Soldo scored for Mater Dei in a career that ended with graduation in 1992.

In Soldo's senior season she led the Shore Conference in scoring with 41 goals and six assists. Her four-goal performance against Point Beach in May 1992 made her the third member of the 100-goal club, and she followed that milestone with an eight-goal showing against Shore Regional. Soldo played at Monmouth as well. Former Neptune star Amy DeValue earned All-Shore honors three times. She scored 83 goals with 28 assists in a high school career that ended in 1992.

She went on to Monmouth College, where she became the school's all-time' leading scorer with 64 goals and 25 assists. Before DeValue, there was Tina Conti, who graduated from Neptune in 1988 and stepped right in at Villanova, where she played with Brickner. Conti led the Wildcats in scoring as a junior with 19 goals to earn All-America honors from the National Soccer Coaches Association. Middletown North put together several goals and assisting on 47 more for 251 points, Kurzynowski went on to star at Rutgers and now is the head coach at Middletown South. Then along came Kim Yankowski.

Starring at Point Pleasant Boro, Yankowski became the first player to earn first-team All-Shore honors each of her four years. In her career she compiled 154 goals and 67 assists for an astounding 375 points for a new scoring mark. Yankowski went on to star at North Carolina State, then coached and played for the Raleigh Wings of the USL W-League, for which she just led the league in assists. Yankowski recently attended the U.S. national team tryout in San Diego.

For one season, Pearce and Yankowski shared the same field. Three years later, Pearce became the second player to earn first-team All-Shore accolades for four seasons. Her senior season, she led the Shore Conference in scoring with 51 goals and nine assists for 111 points. The fourth member of the select 100-goal club, Pearce finished with 126 goals and 54 assists in high school, ranking second all-time behind Yankowski. Stardom at Monmouth College followed.

She recorded 50 goals and a school-record assists, putting her second on 4he Boro; Crystal Petracorro, Brick; Jessica Portelli, Middletown. Point Boro's Kim Yankowski, the first player to earn first team All-Shore honors for all four years, celebrates victory over Wall in the 1 990 SCT championship game. Pm fit North; Denise Reddy, Raritan; Jamie Roberto, Stephanie Soldo, Mater Dei; Diana Traska, Middletown North; Nikki Tiemey, Mater Dei; Courtney Wood, Ocean; Kerri Wright, St. Rose; Kim Yankowski, Point Boro; Dana Zonkle, Brick. .11 I II.