By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher TOMS RIVER — You can bet the Toms River South boys soccer players have had Ocean City on their minds for a long time. A year, to be exact. And not because of the town’s beautiful beaches, boardwalk and other attractions. The Indians wanted some revenge for what the boys from Ocean City did to them a year ago. One day shy of exactly a year ago, Ocean City bested the Indians 2-0 to win its second consecutive South Jersey Group 3 championship. On Friday, in front of their home crowd, the Indians weren’t going to be denied again. Cameron Geernick scored a pair of first-half goals and Toms River South held off an Ocean City comeback attempt in the final 15 minutes to hang on for a 2-1 victory that gave the Indians a long-awaited sectional championship and ended the two-year reign of the Red Raiders. The preview posted on nj.com earlier in the day on Friday said that if Ocean City standout senior keeper Russell Lindsay could hold Geernick to just one goal — it wasn’t a matter of if Geerinck would score, but how many goals, the website predicted — the Red Raiders would have a chance. But Geerinck’s playmaking ability up top was too strong, even for a senior-laden Ocean City defense that had helped propel the Red Raiders to the championship game despite the team being a No. 5 seed. In the 13th minute, Geerinck got a ball through on the left side. Lindsay came off his line to contest the shot, but Geerinck was able to tuck the ball into the right corner to put Toms River South up 1-0. With less than seven minutes remaining in the first half, Geerinck struck again. This time he got possession in the middle of the field, cut to his left, and scored again in a one-on-one situation to make it 2-0. There wasn’t much Lindsay could do to stop either goal. 
Ocean City senior Tommy Cusack brings the ball upfield against the Toms River South defense during the South Jersey Group 3 championship game on Friday in Toms River. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) Ocean City (11-9-2) rallied late, as Ty Pawling snuck a pass through in the box to Logan Bloomstead, who knocked in a shot from close range past Indians keeper Dom Pizzi. But once the Indians (20-3) had that 2-0 lead they played with four in the back, making it difficult for the Red Raiders to come up with scoring chances in the final 20 minutes of the game. Despite the loss, senior captain Ryan Saul — who recently gave a verbal commitment to continue his career at UMass — said he was proud of the way the Red Raiders fought hard just to have a chance to defend their title. “Halfway through the season, I had no idea what was going on. We didn’t have our usual start. We are used to just winning and winning. We were below .500 for a few games, we were having arguments in practice. We just weren’t a team. But all of a sudden, when the playoffs came, we took it to a whole new level. We played with a chip on our shoulder and we had something to prove,” Saul said. “Everyone said we weren’t doing what they usually do, but we got back here for the third year in a row, and I think that says a lot about the program and how close we became as a team. That was the biggest part.” 
Ocean City’s Frank Tutelian (7) heads a ball out of danger during the first half of the sectional championship game. “We always wanted these guys to be playing at their best level at this time of year. This is our favorite thing, we play for the state tournament. It’s a lot of fun to watch these guys overcome adversity. We’ve been injured all year, and a lot of teams are, too, but we had major injuries where guys couldn’t play. So it’s been a tough year as far as that’s concerned. But to see these guys come together at the end is really special and exciting to watch,” said Ocean City coach Aaron Bogushefsky. “Three weeks ago if you ask us if we are in this game, and I don’t know. We weren’t playing very well. But we knew when we got everybody back we would be the team we always thought we were. Beating Cherry Hill West (in the quarterfinals) was one of the highlights because they hit us in the mouth so many times and we were able to withstand it and follow through.” In the end, Ocean City just couldn’t stop Geerinck, who broke the school record for goals in a season with his two tallies. Those gave him 27, two more than Dave Mitchell, a former Toms River North coach who died in 2009 and had held the record since the late 1970s. “(The seniors) are such a good group. Even in school we are great friends. I don’t know that I’ll ever miss anything more than playing with those guys,” Saul said. “I think earlier in the year, there’s no chance we come back in this game. But I think our attitude in the playoffs completely changed and we had a whole new idea of what it’s like to fight back when we are down. Bogushefsky said beating Cherry Hill West 1-0 in the quarterfinals, then taking down top-seeded Delsea Regional 2-1 in double overtime in the semis showed how far his team had come in the last four weeks. “That win over Delsea showed our resiliency. I told these guys we had nothing to lose. We were down 2-0 at halftime and I just told them to go for it. I think had we scored maybe with 20 minutes left we might have had more of a chance. We battled and it’s a bummer, but I’m unbelievably proud of these guys. From what they were to what they’ve become, they became what I always thought they were,” Bogushefsky said. “This is a team of gamers. It’s a great group. I’m going to miss these seniors. They are an incredible group of guys, and good kids, too. It’s so final. I’ve been with these guys every day since June, and it’s just like, tomorrow, what am I going to do?” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]
Boys soccer: TR South ends Ocean City’s reign as South Jersey Group 3 champions with 2-1 victory
