Bo Kucyna
Chornomorska Sitch men’s team 2020, prior to the N.J. State Cup game against Hoboken SC.
WHIPPANY, N.J. – The Chornomorska Sitch men’s premier soccer team is in seventh place for the first half of the 2020-2021 season of the highly competitive Super Division of the Garden State Soccer League (GSSL), which is based in New Jersey. After 10 matches played, Sitch has four wins, one tie and five losses, with 13 points.
The team got off to a very good start, winning the first three out of five matches, scoring 11 goals (highlighted by Dan Sydor’s hat-trick against White Eagles SC) and conceding five goals. The three other wins were shutouts against Polonia-Sportfriends (2-0 on September 18, 2020), Evolution SC (2-0 on October 4, 2020) and White Eagles SC (5-0 on October 11, 2020). Among the losses were to Jackson Lions (1-3 on September 27, 2020), one of the top teams in the league, and arch rival SC Portuguese (1-2 on October 16, 2020). Sitch was in fifth place in the standings after the first five games.
The team struggled a bit over the next five games, winning one, losing three, and earning one draw (a game in which they led by two goals late in the second half). The disappointing tie was a home game against Ironbound SC on October 25, 2020. The one win was a satisfying 4-1 victory against NJ Alliance on November 1, 2020, while the three losses came against first-place FC Motown (0-5 on November 10, 2020), second-place Clifton Elite (0-1 on November 17, 2020) and (middle of the table) Bulldogs SC (1-3 on November 29, 2020). As a result of this unfortunate string of losses, the team dropped to their current seventh place in the standings.
In N.J. State Cup action, Sitch’s first game was a matchup with FC Dynamo, who play in the GSSL’s Central A Division. Sitch led 1-0 in the first half with a beautiful combination play that setup a fantastic strike by Mickey Tabatchouk from the top of the penalty area. While Sitch had more quality chances to score and better play in the first half, the score remained 1-0 until early in the second half when FC Dynamo scored on a counter attack to tie the game at 1-1.
However, shortly thereafter, Sitch regained their momentum and put a string of corner kicks together to threaten the Dynamo goal. It was on one of these corner kicks that defender Andrew Andrach moved forward and blasted a ball towards goal to beat the keeper and put Sitch ahead 2-1. Sitch continued to push forward and were awarded a penalty kick as one of the forwards was fouled in the penalty area. Midfielder Brett Stassfurth stepped up and calmly placed his shot into the upper corner to make it 3-1 for Sitch. While Dynamo made it interesting with a late goal to bring the score to within one, Sitch held on for the win and advanced to the second round of the N.J. State Cup.
Against Hoboken SC in the second round, Dan Holowaty scored the opener for Sitch, and Stefan Zawojski got the assist. Things were looking positive as the team went into halftime with the 1-0 lead. However, early in the second half on a Hoboken corner kick, a Hoboken player collided with Sitch goalie Alex McDonald, knocking him out of the game. With no reserve goalie on the bench, Sitch were forced to put one of their field players into goal. Unfortunately, the best choice to play goalie also happened to play a key defensive role in the line-up. While the backup played to the best of his ability, Hoboken took advantage of his inexperience in goal and scored three times to win the game 3-1, knocking Sitch out of the 2020-2021 N.J. State Cup.
While the second half of the fall season had more lows than highs, the players and coaches were pleased with the progress the team has made overall. Plus, the club is satisfied how several of the new and younger players have successfully integrated with the older and more experienced players. They are optimistic that with hard work and training they will be ready to move up in the standings during the spring season, which is the second and concluding half of the 2020-2021 Sitch soccer season.
At the half-way point of the season, Sydor leads the team in scoring with six goals.
Statistics – 2020 fall season
Team roster: Andrew Andrach, Christian Andrach, Damian Bziukiewicz, Alex Dillon, Philip Dinardo, Edwin Hernandez, Dan Holowaty, Marco Hordynsky, Michael Jablonskyj, Nicholas Kovalenko, Mykola Kucyna, Ryan Maccrea, David Mamukelashvili, Alex Martynetz, Alex McDonald, George Mikula, Joao Navarro, Alex Osuch, Olesh Postolan, Kevin Quiroz, Erick Solis, Brett Stassfurth, Dan Sydor, Mickey Tabatchouk, Stefan Zawojski, Bo Shashkewych (coach), Bo Kucyna (assistant coach)
For the latest results, readers are asked to visit the Clubs & Teams section of Sitch’s website at www.sitchsports.com – click on the Sitch soccer logo, then click on schedule. For more information on the many sports programs offered by Sitch, and to donate to the GoFundMe page for the men’s team, visit https://www.sitchsports.com/.