MKA Strikes Early And Often
In Winning Non-Public B Title

FRANKLIN- Coming off a physically-demanding battle vs. 6-time defending state champion Gill St. Bernard’s, including 100 minutes ending in a 2-2 deadlock before the pressure-packed penalty kick shootout to decide the Non-Public, North B state sectional title, Montclair Kimberley Academy yearned for something positive to occur quickly and emphatically which might just ignite a decisive edge in Sunday’s Non-Public B state final.

An early goal proved the perfect solution.

MKA junior forward CJ Dike answered the bell burying his first of two goals on the day just 1:46 into the match for an early 1-0 lead and the Cougars dominated from that point throughout in cruising past South B champ Ranney, 5-0, to capture their first overall Non-Public B state title since 2012 and fourth overall on a very windy late morning at Franklin High School.

Senior forward Nick Carrascosa added two goals of his own, including one on a penalty kick, and junior Gus Rosen also scored as MKA (16-5-1), which had been the 10th ranked team in the state according to nj.com, roared past Ranney (14-7-1) which was making its first appearance in a state final.

“It was all about getting that first goal, which was so big in setting the tone for the entire game,” said Dike, who has combined with Carrascosa to form a potent duo up top all season long for the Cougars. “After beating Gill for the first time in years in the North final we realized getting here was a big privilege and we also knew what we needed to do to get the job done, and scoring early was important.

“Once we got on top everything just continued to click for us and I feel so good for our seniors who have led the way for us all season long and it’s great to send them out with a state championship victory!”

Veteran coach Rob Leather was well aware that despite his Cougars feeling quite good about themselves and the superlative season they had put together so far  coming into Sunday that it would be important coming off such a benchmark win just three days before to hopefully have an energy-infused start against a Ranney side that was a bit of an unknown coming out of the Shore area, which made the match’s first goal coming right away such a great pick me up for the Essex County team.

“We were confident coming in, but I think the early goal settled us down a bit,” said MKA’s 12th-year head coach Rob Leather. “Thursday’s North final took a lot out of us both emotionally and physically, and we were as banged up as we’ve been all year; nothing serious, but definitely some sore bodies.

“Our boys were so emotionally and physically fatigued that they begged for a day off on Friday. We were able to reset, watch some film, get any rehab we needed in, and then get ready for the state final.

“Our boys were in a really focused mood on the bus coming down here but I think that early goal just calmed everyone down, and we just continued to control play from that point on.

“I thought we would have a lot of territory but we needed to find the final ball. It wasn’t easy playing today because of the wind (announced as being 34 mph), but we have a very resilient group and they’re ready for just about anything that comes their way.”  

MKA took a 2-0 lead vs. Ranney on junior Gus Rosen’s goal with 21:22 left in the first half and then made it 3-0 when Dike buried a header off a corner with 5:59 still remaining before the intermission.

Carrascosa easily powered in his PK with 10:00 remaining in the match and then scored his second goal with 2:04 left to finish the days scoring after the Cougars had already sent in most of their reserves including substituting in reliable junior backup goalkeeper Joe Morante for senior Harvard-bound star Jan Hegna who was never tested with any offensive moment for Ranney the entire time he was on the field as the Panthers did not have a single shot while their goal keeper, senior Jake Nagy, kept busy all match along while making eight saves.

And, as comfortable as Sunday’s shutout victory over the Panthers was none of what occurred in the state championship final would have been possible if it hadn’t been for a memorable moment in Thursday’s North B final vs. Gill when MKA’s 4-year senior defender Braeden Keegan headed in a clutch, game-tying goal with just 1:31 remaining to tie the match at 2-2 just as it appeared that the Knights might escape Van Brunt Field with yet another victory over the Cougars in a state sectional championship match.

The Cougars proceeded to post a 4-2 edge in PK’s with Hegna stopping a pair of shots including swatting away the game-clinching last attempt in a best-of-5 shootout as MKA earned the right to advance to Sunday’s overall ‘B’ state final, the Montclair private school’s first since 2013 when it lost to Gill in the title tilt at The College of New Jersey after having won the previous two state titles in 2011 and 2012, also at TCNJ, behind the guidance of former head coach Jordan Raper.

“I’ve had some good groups here and all those guys deserve a piece of this,” said Leather, who had previously seen his Cougars lose in seven North B state sectional finals during his first 11 seasons at the helm. “The mental consistency of this team is unbelievable. The equalizer vs. Gill on Thursday with 91 seconds left is definitely about Braedan, but also about this team collectively, which just keeps going and never lets up.

“We have beaten Gill in the prep finals many times, but this game (Non-Public B final) always seemed to evade us. The pressure around this game just builds and builds and I felt more pressure this year, but I also felt better about this group because we were healthy coming in which hasn’t always been the case in the past.

“We have a tremendous group of seniors like Braeden and Nitaino (Jimenez-Stanley) who are the only ones who have played on the varsity all four years. Nick would have been a 4-year player but was injured his freshman year and Jan was not with us last season.

“Those four have been a huge part of this program but we’re still pretty sophomore and junior heavy and we’ll hopefully be back again next year.
“This has been a memorable season and we feel great about where the program is as we enjoy this state championship!”

NOTES- Keegan, who could wind up playing his college soccer at a high academic Division III school, has generated interest from both Gettysburg and TCNJ while the explosive Carrascosa, who has accumulated nearly 125 points in just three seasons, has a D1 offer from St. John’s and has an upcoming visit planned at Monmouth University…Ranney, which in located in Tinton Falls and has been open since 1960, had quite the state tournament run heading into Sunday’s state final while capturing the program’s first state sectional title with a 4-0 win over Princeton Day in the South B final. Coach Donny Gray’s Panthers had not allowed a goal heading into its match with MKA and was led by a prolific scorer in senior forward Eddie Magherini who had 29 goals this season….Among the underclassmen due back for a well-stocked MKA soccer side in 2026 include Dike, Rosen, Morante along with fellow juniors Wes Narucki, Max Ludlow and Solomon Lucas, and among sophomores also on the rise are Thomas Hunt, Noah Cesareo and Matias Liermann.