Glory Days Magazine Boys Soccer Co-Players of the Year: O.C.’s Brook, Mainland’s Sarkos the heartbeats of their programs

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
The best thing about Matt Brook’s high school soccer career being over is that he will never again have to try to stop Mainland Regional star Jack Sarkos from scoring. Conversely, Sarkos is probably just as happy not having to go up against a Brook-led Ocean City team ever again.
The two seniors will forever be linked as their rival teams did battle throughout their four years, and each had a great senior year that will leave their respective teams some pretty big shoes to fill in 2019. For that reason, Brook and Sarkos are Glory Days Magazine’s Boys Soccer Co-Players of the Year.
Sarkos, one of the top strikers in the state and a Lehigh University commit, helped lead Mainland to its first state championship game last year as a junior, and this year returned as one of only a couple of players with any substantial varsity experience, as the Mustangs were hit hard by graduation. Every opponent knew it had to shut Sarkos down in order to have a chance to beat Mainland, but even with all that attention, not many teams were successful at keeping him off the scoresheet. He scored 23 goals, giving him a school-record 74 for his career, and also dished out nine assists for a Mainland team that went 14-7 overall and finished just one game behind Ocean City in the CAL National Conference standings. In his final two seasons, Sarkos racked up 49 goals and 17 assists.

“I remember freshman year hearing about how they had a really good freshman on varsity, then learning about him and each year playing against each other more and more. He’s very good. I feel like whenever we played Mainland, we were the matchup and our names were together a lot. We got to play together in an all-star game, which was fun,” Brook said. “He has a really high soccer IQ and his movements, both on and off the ball, were really good. He knew what to do, was experienced, and he was really good at getting in behind the defense and using his body to control the ball, and his finishing is really good, too. He’s the toughest striker we faced. The game plan always was ‘defend Sarkos.’ We didn’t one-v.-one mark him, but we told the defense we had to communicate and there always had to be one player near him, on his back the whole time, and we would help each other out. We thought we did a good job the first game (this year) but the second time we played them he scored. You just always have to be in his back pocket and not let him get the ball.”
Brook didn’t have quite the gaudy numbers that Sarkos produced because he was moved from striker back to center midfielder to help solidify Ocean City’s lineup. But coach Aaron Bogushefsky said that was what made Brook so special, not only could Bogey put Brook anywhere he wanted, but he also knew that Brook would never complain and would give 100 percent and do whatever it took to help the Red Raiders win.
And win, they did. Ocean City went 15-5-1, won the CAL National title and also took home the crown in the inaugural CAL Tournament, coming from behind to beat top-seeded St. Augustine Prep 2-1 on a pair of John Lindsay goals, one of which was set up on a beautiful set piece from 40 yards out by Brook.
“The first time we played them it was at the Philadelphia Union stadium and they won, 2-0, but it was a really close game. The second time, we knew how they played and we knew what we needed to do. We came out slow to start but then we started picking it up. They had kind of a fluke goal and we were like, ‘we’re not losing off of that.’ So we huddled up at halftime and talked about what we needed to do. John (Lindsay) just came out of nowhere with some clutch goals. Once we tied it, they just kept saying we were trying to push the game into PKs but we weren’t trying to do that, and we scored another on them,” Brook said. “I was just trying to find someone’s head. Our set pieces were really good this year and we could really connect with each other, so I was just trying to get the ball into the box because we have some guys who are good at heading the ball, and it just happened to fall perfectly.
“We thought what better time to win it than the first time, and we just played how we know how to play.”
Brook, who likely is headed to Arcadia University, spent much of his career as a striker but said he wasn’t sure what kind of role he might have coming into his senior season. It didn’t matter to him, though, as long as he was in the lineup and helping his team succeed.
“I wasn’t really sure where I was going to get put, but Bogey felt like we needed to fill some spots in the midfield. I never played midfield before, but he thought I could do it and I felt like I fit in really well there, controlling the middle of the field. I played center back up until eighth grade, then was a striker freshman through junior years. I’ve always been very unselfish and whenever somebody would ask what my best attribute was, Bogey would always say my passing. He thought playing center mid would really open things up for me. I’ve been playing with most of these guys since third grade, I knew how everyone played, and it just flowed really well,” said Brook, who scored seven goals and added nine assists this year, and finished with 34/19 for his career. “I don’t need a lot of stats, it’s all about the team, so I was up for whatever. We thought this was going to be our year and we thought we didn’t have any bad weaknesses that would take away from our game. As a whole, we thought we were pretty strong and played well together. It didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to (in the end) but we still had a great season.”
OTHER BOYS SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR CANDIDATES:
Gabe Paz, Oakcrest: Opposing teams aren’t real fond of traveling to Oakcrest to play the Falcons on their home turf, and that’s because Oakcrest plays an aggressive style of soccer that is both physically and mentally draining for opponents. The Falcons also can put the ball in the back of the net, especially their leading scorer, Gabe Paz. A true “No. 10” as they say in soccer (it’s a tradition in many countries that No. 10 is reserved for the national team’s most potent playmaker), opposing coaches always had to know where Paz was because he has the talent and breakaway speed to score at any time. Paz led the Falcons with 15 goals this season and also chipped in eight assists, best on the team.
Kevin Witkowski, St. Augustine Prep: A tough, hard-nosed midfielder, Witkowski led the Hermits with 12 goals and also helped them post 17 wins, most in the Cape-Atlantic League.
Jacob Evenson, Egg Harbor Township: The senior midfielder scored six goals and added four assists, but his real value was in his consistency and leadership. He was one of the most relentless midfielders in the league all year long.