Alexis and Estrella lead Spartans over Fliers

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr
Ocean Township High School hosted the boys’ soccer team from Neptune High School on Saturday morning for a Shore Conference Class B North game. Wadneson Alexis and Braylin Estrella, both seniors, led the Spartans in the 6-2 victory over the Scarlet Fliers.

Sliding in and attempting to kick the ball past the Neptune goalkeeper is Ocean Township senior Luis Araya.

Alexis one of the most highly recruited players in the Shore Conference had two goals in the victory. Next season Alexis will be playing NCAA Division 1 soccer for the Hawks of Monmouth University. Estrella had one goal and assisted on three other goals for Ocean.
“It has been a real team effort this year as 15 players on our roster have scored or assisted so far this season,” said Thomas Reilly, head coach at Ocean. With the win on Saturday the Spartans have improved to 6-1 overall and are currently in second position in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 3.

Also getting goals in the victory over Neptune were Kevin Astudillo a senior forward, Steven Carton a sophomore midfielder, and Jordan Ornowski a junior midfielder. Ryan Wells a senior defender had two assists and Brandon Holland a junior defender had one assist for Ocean.

Ocean had a 22-4 shot on goal advantage over Neptune. In the goal for the Spartans was Thomas Gleason, sophomore, who had one save.

“Obviously, we are very happy with our efforts so far. The Neptune game on Saturday was a great display by the team as we had five different goal scorers and now have 12 players who scored at least one goal this season,” said Reilly.  He added that they passed the ball very well and defended smartly and converted on chances.

“The team has shared the workload all season; we haven’t had to rely on any one player to be successful. The players are really starting to jell and I hope the best is yet to come for this group,” added Reilly. The coach pointed out that his senior leaders; Wells, Wadneson, Estrella, Luis Araya, Marlhens Nasanes have all led by example. “It’s been fun to watch and be a part of, and I think the ceiling is extremely high for this group is we hold our focus.”