Boys’ Soccer Looks to Continue Its Storied Run

After collecting four consecutive Non-Public B State titles, the GSB Boys’ Soccer program may be poised for its biggest challenge yet.

The Knights enter their 2022-23 season with several returning starters, including team captains Nick Collins ’23 and Charles Taliano ’23 at Center Back, Joe Howard ’23 at Right Back, and Dan Spataro ’24 at Center Midfield.

The Knights will be led by Head Coach Tony Bednarsky, who begins his 34th year behind the helm of the program, as well as Associate Head Coach Tim DiBisceglie, who enters his 5th season. The coaching staff believes the roster has the talent to be one of the top teams in New Jersey and to accomplish some major goals.

“We’re aiming to win our 5th straight state title and make deep runs into the County and Prep B Tournaments,” said Coach DiBisceglie. “We have a strong core of returning players from last season that knows how to be successful on and off the pitch. All our upperclassmen were on our 2020 team that finished 1st in the state overall and 4th in the country.”

The team will have large cleats to fill after graduating several key players from last season, including top point scorers David Frankel and Gavin Scavino, who continues his career at the University of Scranton. With those vacancies, the Knights offense will rely on Collins (7 goals, 1 assist), Spataro (3 goals, 7 assists), Howard (4 assists), and Taliano (2 goals, 1 assist) to build off of last year’s success and to create balanced team chemistry.

The team will also receive major contributions from sophomore Dan Scali, coming off a highly successful freshman campaign (4 goals, 3 assists), and a deep core of returning letter winners featuring Seniors Ryan Smith, Juniors Dan Castro, Jonathan Ferreira, Peter Frantz-Pendell, Chayse Stolarski, and George Taylor, and Sophomores Nathaniel Shen and Michael Taliano. Junior Mike Dumiec ’25 returns as goalkeeper for his third varsity season to anchor the Knights’ defense. With a very competitive regular season schedule, Coach DiBisceglie is excited for the team to demonstrate what they can do against highly ranked opponents.

“This year we’re playing in two college showcases, facing off against top-ranked Christian Brothers’s Academy at the Mainline Showcase in Pennsylvania as well as Chestnut Hill Academy at Pingry’s Invitational College Showcase,” said Coach DiBisceglie.

“This group is striving to end the season ranked amongst the best teams in the state again, as we continue to look to develop the growth of our program.”

The Boys' Soccer season kicks off on September 8 at Ridge High School. Be sure to check out the full season schedule on the GSB website!