Gill St. Bernard's small, but successful
By Ron Jandoli for the Star-Ledger, 11-02-06
Most games, Gill St. Bernard's finds itself at a disadvantage even before it takes the field. The Gladstone school regularly graduates a senior class of just 40 students.
"There are schools that have more boys coming out for their team than we have in our school," coach Tony Bednarsky said. "Sometimes we do a little bit of David and Goliath when we need to use it as a motivator."
That motivation has earned Gill St. Bernard's (14-3) a second seed in both the Prep B and NJSIAA Non-Public B tournaments.
"We set goals to go one step further than the kids did last year, so everything else is icing on the cake," said Bednarsky, whose team has already eclipsed its record and Somerset County Tournament finish from last season. "Other teams are packing it in and cleaning out their lockers and we still have some soccer to play."
Tri-captains Duncan Swanwick, Terrance Timothy and Chris Pellegrinelli, along with 20-goal scorer Pete Bednarsky, a junior and Tony's son, will look to continue its success in postseason play.
"I like always being the underdogs," Pete Bednarsky said. "We don't think we get a lot of respect as a small school, so we try to go out there and gain it. We really have nothing to lose."
