On Friday, in the opening round of the South Jersey Coaches Association boys soccer tournament, Mainland Regional was trying to hold back a tidal wave of pressure from Washington Township as the Minutemen tried desperately to overcome an early 4-0 deficit.
The Mustangs jumped out to a 4-0 halftime lead on goals by Conner Juckett, Jack Sarkos and Victor Figueroa, but about halfway through the second half the Minutemen began piling up goals to put the Mustangs on their heels. Brett Guetens, Alex Levie and Will McCusker scored to shave the lead to 4-3.
Mainland needed somebody to step up to stop the bleeding, and this week’s Bunting Family Pharmacy Athlete of the Week did just that.
After McCusker scored by knocking in a header off a direct kick from just outside the box to make it 4-3 with 11:38 left, Figueroa — a senior who leads Mainland in scoring — came up with the biggest play of the game. He drilled a direct kick from just outside the 18 into the back of the net, giving Mainland a 5-3 lead. That was was crucial, as Washington Township scored again with 8:40 to go to make it a one-goal game again.
But Mainland’s defense held strong, as goalie Matt Stellitano finished with a season-high 25 saves. The win put Mainland into the second round of the coaches tournament, and also pushed the Mustangs’ record to 14-1-1.
“Victor has been huge for us all year, and we needed a goal at that point because they were putting so much pressure on us. He scored to make it 5-3, and that was huge. And that turned out to be the winning goal,” Mainland coach John Napoli said after the win.

— Dave O’Sullivan, Publisher