GSSL League Cup Groups Drawn
GSSL Office, Hamilton Township – Garden State Soccer League Semi Pro League Cup groups were announced last night with Secaucus FC drawn in Group 6 as the top seed. The Semi Pro North Division side was drawn in a three-team group together with familiar foe Sheffield Crew from Wayne, NJ and South Jersey’s premier club, Jersey Shore Boca.
Sheffield Crew have been quite a familiar adversary for Secaucus FC over the years as the clubs have played each other many times in different competitions as exhibitions. The last time the two clubs played resulted in a 6-3 win for the boys in blue just one month ago in an exhibition both teams used to prepare for the Spring.
Since then, both clubs have gone undefeated with Sheffield showing some life after a dreadful fall where they managed to lose nine games in a row, and Secaucus FC building on their solid, yet unconvincing Fall results with three victories in a row, fourteen goals for, zero against.
Jersey Shore Boca is another story. The clubs have not faced each other since 2005 when they met in an exhibition on May 29th. SFC were playing their last match after a poor inaugural season which saw the club win only one game, and Boca were gearing their U-20 and U-23 teams up for the summer season. That game saw a rather “green” SFC turn up to Shetik Field on County Avenue in Secaucus with 12 players to play one of New Jersey’s best and most historic soccer clubs.
“I just remember turning up to the field with my rag-tag bunch of guys and there being 30+ Boca players warming up” commented Managing Director Nick Farinola, who managed the the team that fateful morning. Boca had brought both their U-20 and U-23 teams to face Secaucus FC that day. Each of the Boca teams played one half.
“We were a new club just out of our first season, we hadn’t done well at all up to that point winning only one game during the whole year.” Added the SFC founder.
“We had only twelve players and our backs were against the wall, but we had nothing to lose really. That day still stands in my mind as one of the best performances in SFC history. We ended up losing, but not without a fight. With our twelve players we ended up scoring first and coming back two more times in the match before they finally beat us 7-3.”
Jersey Shore Boca has been a fixture in the soccer community since 1978 and is one of the most respected soccer clubs in the country. Several of the club’s alumni have played at the highest levels of the game including the now defunct North American Soccer League back in the 70s and 80s, in MLS, in several European and South American first division leagues, and on the US National Team.
The top team from each of the six groups will advance with two second place teams out of the six going through as well. The group stage lasts from May 10th to May 31st. Quarterfinals are scheduled for June 7th, Semi’s are on the 14th, and the Final will be on June 21st.
- April 23, 2009
