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St. Benedict's scoring sensation Amadou Hann (right) begins to head upfield along with Seton Hall Prep's Henry Foucaud (5) and Ciaran Bateson in Essex County Tournament semifinals on Monday night (Oct. 27) at Livingston where Hann's first half goal was only scoring in Gray Bees' 1-0 win vs. Pirates. In the bottom photo, from left, are St. Benedict's head coach Jim Wandling (Class of 1992, on left) and assistants Sylvers Owusu (foreground, Class of 2003) and Victor Villagomez (Class of 2013), who are all alums from longtime Newark private school with dynamic soccer side. (SC photo and by PJ Candido/SHP)
St. Benedict’s Athletic Director Frank DiPiano has never been more pleased about his school’s position in Essex County than it is now, and that goes beyond the fact that he can watch New Jersey’s No. 1 ranked soccer team continue to win and win some more. The top-seeded Gray Bees (14-0-1), behind St. Benedict’s 1992 graduate and now veteran coach Jim Wandling, face second-seeded West Orange (18-1) 11 a.m., Saturday, at Livingston’s Allen ‘Jake’ Jacobson Memorial Field in the 51st annual Essex County Tournament championship match. The game, which had originally been scheduled for 5 p.m. on Thursday (Oct. 30), at Caldwell’s Bonnel Field, has been moved back two days because of Thursday’s constant rain around North Jersey, and the location switch to Livingston came because of other prior commitments that Caldwell had for its field on Saturday. St. Benedict’s, which became a member of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association during the 2024-2025 school year, reentering the NJSIAA for the first time since 1991. The Brick City school was also approved for entry into the Super Essex Conference in January of 2024. As longtime members of the Essex County Athletic Director’s Association (ECADA) St. Benedict’s Prep has maintained a steady presence in countywide track, swimming and wrestling tournaments for the past several seasons; but, up until the 2024 ECT, not in basketball. “This is our first full school year in the SEC for what will include all three seasons,” said DiPiano, whose dad Mike was also an athletic director and a former wrestling coach at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark. “It’s been great for us with opportunities and more games for all our kids in all the different sports we have for boys and girls. “A few years ago we had only 13 or 14 games on our schedule and last year we were able to have 20. Periodically, or on an annual basis, we’ve been the Essex County Tournament or championship events in cross country, track and field, wrestling and swimming, but now as full members of the SEC it’s terrific to have our soccer, basketball and baseball teams among those now annually part of their sport’s ECT. “We’re still able to play the more national, independent portion of our schedule, but now we play terrific Essex County teams such as West Orange, Montclair, MKA and Seton Hall Prep and that’s something we didn’t get to do all the time before.” St. Benedict’s No. 1 ranked soccer team edged SHP, 1-0, this past Monday night (Oct. 27) in the ECT semifinals at Livingston as star junior striker Amadou Hann (18 goals, 2 assists) tallied the match’s only goal with 6:50 left in the first half, with an assist from sophomore standout Nathaniel Addo (5 goals, 3 assists). The semifinal loss for the Pirates ended a tournament record streak of appearing in a title game for 10 straight ECTs (2014-2024). There was no tournament in 2020 due to the covid virus. St. Benedict’s, which defeated SHP, 4-1, in last year's ECT final, which was its first county tournament championship since 2005, has a number of key underclassmen besides Hann and Addo on this fall's talented contngent including sophomores Taslim-N-Nyiah (4 goals and 5 assists) and Frank Pah (2 goals, 12 assists). “We have a very good, young group of players on the team, including Amadou, who has been with us since his freshman year,” said DiPiano. “Jim, who was a teammate with great players like Claudio Reyna on our 1991 team, is St. Benedict’s through and through, and his son also played for the school. “Regardless of the success that our team continues to have, we also know never to take anyone for granted because you just never know what can happen in soccer. The ball is round and so are the goal posts, and anything can happen out there in an instant to possibly change a game.” St. Benedict’s had a narrow 4-3 win vs. Pingry on Oct. 7, tied with St. Peter’s Prep, 1-1, back on Sept. 27, and edged West Orange, 2-1, Oct. 18, at the Mountaineers’ home field. The Gray Bees outshot the Pirates (12-4-1), 12-1, in the two teams’ ECT semifinal contest, with SHP goalkeeper Liam Collins doing a superb job protecting his net while making 11 saves. St. Benedict’s keeper Mason Schuler had to make just the one save in the match. Now, it’s a second match of the season vs. a very good West Orange side for the Gray Bees. Veteran coach Doug Nevins’ Mountaineers, who defeated third-seeded MKA, 3-1, in Monday’s other ECT semi, are led by their own prolific scorer in senior Carl Hall who has 18 goals and 22 assists, while senior UCLA-bound ace defender Marcus Jackson is strong throughout the pitch, and others such as juniors Darius Millington (10 goals, 5 assists) and Agustin Arrieta, who is the team’s fine goalkeeper, provide other strong play for the Group 4 soccer side. 50 Essex County Boys Soccer Tournament Finals: Most Titles: Consecutive Titles: Most Final Appearances: Most Consecutive Finals: ECT historical information provided by Jeff Goldberg Follow Steve Tober on 'X' @Chattermeister
St. Benedict's players enjoy the moments after Amadou Hann scored the game's only goal with 6:50 left in first half against Seton Hall Prep in the ECT semifinals at Livingston on Monday (Oct. 27) and Gray Bees head coach Jim Wandling and team take in action from bench as the Newark school is headed back to ECT final 11 a.m. Saturday, also at Livingston.
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