The injuries were mounting up, to the point of absurdity never before heard of. There was an assortment of 13 different injuries of all different varieties, a regular smorgasbord of ailments, a cornucopia of bumps, bruises and what have you.
As the season began to wind down to the precious few games, the St. Peter’s Prep soccer team was scoring more injuries than goals.
“We lost over 100 games to injury,” said Prep’s veteran head coach Josh Jantas. “It was unprecedented.”
At one point, the Marauders were down six starters. How does a team compete with so many maladies?
But the Marauders persevered. They entered the Hudson County Tournament with a sense of purpose and determination.
“I think the turning point was when we played Union City,” Jantas said. “We found a new rhythm with the new pieces in place.”
The Marauders defeated the defending champions of the Hudson County Tournament, 2-1.
“I think that’s when it came together for us,” Jantas said. “I actually felt their heart and grit. It all came to the forefront. We prepared as best as we could, but it came down to wanting it more.”
So when the Marauders faced Kearny in the tournament championship game – two days after the postponement of the regular season game between the two titans because the air quality in Kearny was not acceptable – Jantas felt like his team was more than ready.
“We were playing with grit,” Jantas said. “We were coming off a three-game losing streak and we turned it on at the right time.”
The Marauders’ top players agreed.
“There was a sense that if we had our players healthy, we could win this,” said senior midfielder Antonio Callegari, who is enjoying a season of epic proportions. “We never put our heads down and felt sorry for ourselves. We never showed any fear or doom. We never let it get to us. We never spoke of it. We just played off each other.”
“We were just motivated to win,” senior defender Matthew Jasinski said. “We were ready to go up against Kearny, our biggest rival, and show them what St. Peter’s Prep is all about.”
However, for Jasinski, he became a casualty like some of his teammates, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his knee during the county playoffs.
But the determined Marauders were ready to meet the powerful Kardinals, a team that had only one loss all season, the school with the state championship pedigree and winners of six Hudson County Tournament titles since the inception of the county tournament 11 years ago.
Kearny, ranked No. 6 in the state, had won nine straight matches before facing the Marauders in the title game.
But the Marauders jumped on the shoulders of Callegari, who has tallied 26 goals and added 12 assists for a total season to remember, who collected two assists in the title game.
Gabe Guedez had a goal and an assist and Anthony Warmusz scored a goal and the Marauders had a 2-1 victory over the Kardinals to capture the third HCT title in the 11-year history of the tourney. It was the first county title for Prep since winning their last in 2016.
“It meant the world to us, especially going up against Kearny,” said Jasinski, who had his ACL repaired on Tuesday and was on the sidelines Thursday on crutches. “As soon as I went into surgery, I told my Mom that I was not missing that game. It really is a dream come true.”
Callegari’s brother Andrew was on the last Prep team to win the county crown. He’s now studying psychology at Rutgers.
“I sent him a text message with a video of me holding the trophy,” Antonio Callegari said. “I was at that game when they won and I remember watching in the stands and watching them celebrate. I wanted to be a part of that. I remember how happy my brother was. I know I wanted to win one before I graduated.”
Callegari will be playing college soccer somewhere next fall. He also has a 4.1 grade point average and a 1290 score in the Scholastic Aptitude Tests. It’s safe to say that Callegari can write his own ticket. He plans to study pre-med in college with the ultimate plan of becoming a doctor some day.
“He’s had an incredible year,” Jantas said of Callegari. “It’s the best offensive season I’ve had since I’ve been the coach at Prep. It’s a historic season. People will be talking about Callegari whenever Prep soccer comes up. And he’s so humble. He has no idea that he’s a superstar.”
Jantas said that he was so proud of his very resilient squad.
“I’m so happy for the guys,” Jantas said. “This was a total team effort. Everyone contributed at some point in the season. That’s a little unusual in soccer to have everyone contribute, but they did. It was the ‘next man up’ mentality. It’s a fitting reward after their tough start. I think it’s really special because of the adversity that they had to overcome.”
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at OGSMAR@aol.com. You can also read Jim’s blog at www.jimhaguesports.blogspot.com and follow Jim on Twitter @ogsmar.
