Sommer, Triton surprising win over Haddonfield to Start Season  

Boys soccer: Tri-County Conference Players of the Week, Sept. 10

Today 6:37 AM

Al Amrhein | For NJ Advance Media

Aiden Sommers had a big opening week for Triton, including a win over Haddonfield.

By Brian Deakyne | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

TRI-COUNTY CONFERENCE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

WEEK 1

Field player: Aiden Sommers, Triton, Jr.

Sommers had a dynamic opening week for Triton and quickly established himself as a dangerous player in the attacking third.

Sommers struck for two goals In an impressive 5-2 win over Haddonfield in the Colonial Conference/Tri-County Conference Showcase before adding another two-goal effort in a 2-0 win over Deptford on Thursday.

https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2019/09/boys-soccer-tri-county-conference-players-of-the-week-sept-10.html  

https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2019/09/boys-soccer-tri-county-conference-players-of-the-week-sept-17.html 

Goalkeeper: Joe Bilgic, Triton, Jr.

Bilgic continued to backstop Triton’s hot start to the season this week, collecting seven saves in a 5-0 win over Cumberland Wednesday. Bilgic followed that effort up with four saves in a down-to-the-wire 2-1 win over Delsea on Friday.

Triton upsets No. 10 Clearview 

Posted Oct 11, 2019

By Christopher Burch | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Tyler Guadagno scored in the first overtime to lift Triton to a 2-1 victory over Clearview, No. 10 in the NJ.com Top 20, in Mullica Hill.

Ryan Gale assisted on the game winner for Triton (9-4) to give Clearview (13-1-1) its first loss of the season.

Austin Amburg scored an equalizing goal in the 79th minute to tie the send the game into overtime tied 1-1.

Joe Bilgic made six saves in the win.

Kevin Donahue assisted on Vincent Fedoryka’s first half goal for Clearview.

https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2019/10/hawk-scores-twice-as-triton-defeats-deptford-for-third-time-photos.html 

Hawk scores twice as Triton defeats Deptford for third time

Triton over Mainland - Boys soccer - NJSIAA SJG3 semifinals

Max Hawk scored in double-overtime to give second-seeded Triton a 1-0 win over third-seeded Mainland in the South Jersey, Group 3 semifinals in Runnemede.

Tyler Guadagno provided the assist on the goal for the Mustangs (17-5), which will play ninth-seeded Ocean City in the sectional final on Friday at home.

Buy these game photos: We offer reprints in a variety of sizes. Open the gallery above and select “BUY IMAGE” to purchase yours now.

Triton goalie Joe Bilgic made seven saves to shutout. It is the Mustang’s fifth clean sheet in their last six games. Triton will put its six-game winning streak on the line in the championship match.

Zach Matik made seven stops between the pipes for Mainland (14-6). Matik had four shutouts in his last four games coming in.

Heroes and MVP standouts from Friday’s boys soccer sectional finals

Al Amrhein | For NJ Advance Media

Triton's Max Hawk (15) sends a shot past Ocean City's Kyle Plenn (K) and the sliding defense of Sean MacNaughton (2) for a goal during the second half of the Ocean City vs. Triton boys soccer, NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 tournament final game, Friday, Nov. 8, 2019.

SOUTH, GROUP 3

Max Hawk, Triton

Hawk went for one goal and one assist as No. 2-seed Triton rolled past No. 9-seed Ocean City for a 3-0 win in the South Jersey, Group 3 title game. Aiden Sommers and Jayden Martinez also found twice for Triton after two second-half goals helped it pull away for the win.

TRI-COUNTY CONFERENCE POSTSEASON HONORS 

COACH OF THE YEAR: Bryan Ekstrom, 

Triton battled through adversity at times this season, but was the final team in the Tri-County Conference standing.

Under Bryan Ekstrom, Triton won its first-ever South Jersey, Group 3 title and was a goal away from playing in the Group 3 championship game.

Still relatively young, Triton was probably a year ahead of schedule with its postseason success and will enjoy the dynamic scoring trio of Aiden Sommers, Max Hawk and Ryan Gale for another season together next year.

Triton captured the Liberty Division title in the TCC and put together a seven-game winning streak after its loss in the first round of the South Jersey Coaches’ Cup to win the South, Group 3 title.

South Jersey Times boys soccer postseason honors, 2019

COACH OF THE YEAR

Bryan Ekstrom had modest expectations for his second season in charge of the Triton boys soccer team. Making program history was not even on his radar.

But that’s exactly what happened, as the Mustangs defeated Ocean City in the South Jersey, Group 3 final for their first-ever sectional championship. Ekstrom also guided Triton to its second straight Tri-County Conference Liberty Division crown, a berth in the South Jersey Coaches Tournament and quality wins over Clearview and Haddonfield.

A 1-0 overtime loss to Wall in the state semifinals ended a fantastic season at 18-6.

“I really thought this would be a retooling year for us, because we had a lot of players who had never seen a lot of varsity time,” said Ekstrom, the South Jersey Times Coach of the Year. “All of the players who came in and played a lot really stepped up and faced the challenge. They took on a lot of adversity and beat it.

“It definitely wasn’t what we expected at the beginning of the year. But as far as I’m concerned — and I think (the rest of the coaching staff) would say this also — it turned into a Cinderella season.”

Ekstrom was quick to share the credit with his staff — Tim Fornes, Nick Nordone and Chris Donahue. He also included captains Austin Amburg, Myles Denton and Aiden Sommers in key decisions, such as moving Sommers from center midfield to center back midway through the year and shifting Amburg, Max Hawk and Mike Donaghy to different parts of the field throughout the season.

“As a coaching staff, we work really well together because we all have different ideas,” he said. “We talk about the pros and cons of those ideas and then we make a final decision. It can be tough during a game, because Tim might be going in one direction and Nick wants to go in a different direction. It’s a matter of me figuring out the best direction for us to go.

“A lot of the things we changed during the season, we also discussed with our captains. They need a voice too. They have concerns and they have ideas, and if we don’t include them then they’re not going to feel like they have as much at stake.”

Ekstrom, who was an assistant at Triton from 2005-2017 and previously served as an assistant at Timber Creek, is excited for the future of the program. But even with a lot of top players returning in 2020, he knows the Mustangs will have their work cut out for them.

“I’ll be hopeful for next year, but it’s a new season,” he said. “Other teams can do the same thing we did. It’s a matter of seeing what challenges we’ll face and trying to overcome them.”