MKA's Award-Winning Captain
Latest Parisi Fairfield/SC Honoree

He was a stalwart who helped lead Montclair Kimberley Academy’s stellar defense for the past four years and he capped off his superb high school career by helping to lead the Cougars to their first state championship since 2012.

Braedan Keegan, who received the Carmel Marnell Captain’s Award for the fall sports season at MKA, is also the latest Parisi Fairfield/Sideline Chatter Athlete of the Week after scoring the biggest goal of the 2025 state tournament for the Cougars and bolstering the backline as the Montclair private school captured the Non-Public B state title with a dominant 5-0 win over Ranney in the Nov. 16 group final played at Franklin High School in Somerset.

While Keegan will be remembered for being the ace defender and Non-Public all-state selection he was in 2024, and will be again this fall, he’s just as important as a leader and great example on and off the field for all MKA Cougars.

"Braedan has been an integral leader for the boys’ soccer team this season, a season that has been our most successful campaign since 2012,” said veteran MKA coach Rob Leather. “On the field, he is a fierce competitor, a steady presence, and a born winner, and for four years he has been a culture-setter for this program.

“This season, that influence reached its full expression as he led with a quiet confidence, relentless work ethic, and steely determination both on and off the field.

“It was fitting that in our sectional final (on Nov. 13), and with just 91 seconds left against Gill St. Bernard’s, and our team trailing, he delivered the equalizer…a moment that pushed the game into overtime, and ultimately into penalty kicks where we emerged victorious!

“That clutch goal vs. Gill with time running out captured exactly who Braedan is: a player who refuses to quit and elevates everyone around him.

“He has been a true role model, and his legacy will endure. Those who follow him will know because of him what it looks like to lead, to compete, and to win the right way.”

And, as comfortable as the Nov. 16 state final margin of victory over Ranney was for MKA, none of what occurred there would have been possible if it hadn’t been for that memorable moment provided 72 hours prior in the Non-Public, North B state sectional final vs. Gill when 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 state tournament victory over the Cougars.

“We had won the ball and Max (Ludlow) crossed it in,” said Keegan. “I just ran up into the box saw Max (Ludlow) who then made a beautiful cross and all I had to do was find some free space in the net and I did that,” said Keegan. “It could have been my last game and I definitely didn’t want that to be the case.

“That win was all about playing for each other and the guy beside you out there.

“It was so sweet to finally get over the hump and finally beat Gill in the states.”
 
MKA proceeded to post a 4-2 edge in PKs following two scoreless 10-minute overtime periods, and with the Cougars’ stellar Harvard-bound goalkeeper Jan Hegna stopping a pair of shots - including swatting away the game-clinching last attempt by the Knights in the best-of-5 shootout - MKA had earned the right to advance to the Sunday, Nov. 16, overall ‘B’ state final vs. South champ Ranney

The state final appearance was MKA’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 (including 4-0 this season), 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! Braeden and ‘Nitai’ (Nitaino Jimenez-Stanley) are have played all four years. (The team’s leading scorer) Nick Carrascosia would have been a 4-year player but he was injured his freshman year and Jan (Hegna) was not with us last year (while playing for the TSF MLS Next club team in 2024 fall season).

“Those guys have been such a huge part of this program, but we’re still pretty sophomore and junior heavy, and we’ll hopefully be back there (in the state finals) again next year.

“This has been a memorable season and we feel great about where the program is as we enjoy this state championship!”

And, senior leaders like Keegan, who is a very worthy recipient of the latest Parisi Fairfield/SC AOW honor, is also a fine representative of the MKA Fall Captain’s Award which is now named in honor of Carmen Marnell, who was a true gentleman and superb teacher, coach and athletic administrator during his years at the Montclair private school. 

“I didn’t know Mr. Marnell, but being presented the Captain’s Award which is now in his name is a great honor,” added Keegan. “it’s been so great to be a student-athlete and have the teammates and coaches I’ve been with these past four years!”   

MKA’s longtime athletic director Todd Smith provided information on the incredible impact that Coach Marnell had on the Montclair private school.

“Mr. Marnell started teaching French at Montclair Academy (now Montclair Kimberley Academy) in 1957, and he was a beloved coach, faculty member, and friend for 26 years,” said the Cougars’ AD. “During his tenure he served as the Director of Athletics and coached football, basketball, and fencing. Many of his players continued their athletic careers after MKA in college, and even in the professional ranks and the Olympics.

“Mr. Marnell also served as the Assistant Headmaster at MKA and made a tremendous, positive impact on the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of students. He is remembered for his sense of humor, charisma, dedication, and inspiring leadership, and his impact continues to be felt today.

“The “Carmen Marnell Captain’s Award” is given out each season to that male or female captain who has exhibited the qualities that we look for in our team captains...leadership, dedication, respect, work ethic, and being a role model both on and off the field to his or her teammates and peers. 

“All fall sport varsity head coaches have the ability to nominate one of their current captains for the award and then those nominees are discussed in a meeting that all fall sport varsity head coaches attend.

“Braedan Keegan, who was such an indispensable force for our successful boys’ soccer team and one of the senior leaders for this fall’s state championship team, is a very worthy recipient of this great honor!”

Keegan, who is a fine student and enjoys classes such as Economics and Bio Mechanics - along with several members of the MKA soccer team plus is taught by head coach Leather - is receiving college interest from top academic Division III schools including Gettysburg and The College of New Jersey. He has already toured Gettysburg and will be part of an upcoming ID soccer camp in front of coaches at TCNJ.

On or off the field, it’s all about family for the MKA senior standout. Along with his teammates and coaches. Plus, both his parents are head coaches at MKA. His mom Cienne coaches both the girls and boys swimming teams for the Cougars in the winter season, and dad Tim, who had been a longtime MKA assistant boys soccer coach before this year, just completed his first season as the head girls soccer coach while guiding the Cougars to the Non-Public, North B state sectional final vs. eventual state runner-up DePaul.

“Having both parents coaching at MKA is definitely a little different,” added Braedan. “But, it’s nice to have a lot of family involved in athletics at the school.           

“We also have great family atmosphere on our soccer team. We had a tremendous pre-season camp in the Berkshires, and all remained strong right up through the state tournament,” said the Cougars senior star. “Winning a state championship has been the goal of ours since Day 1, and also doing it for Coach Leather, who has been so great, along with assistant coaches Varsay Lewis and Nick DeSomma, was just tremendous!

“I love MKA soccer and all it stands for, and I’m proud to have been a member of this very special team, which is one of the top programs in the entire state!”

NOTES- MKA was the No. 5 team in the state according to nj.com's rankings released on Nov. 20...Keegan, who also enjoys skiing, is out for the first time with MKA’s ice hockey team as the pre-season work continues heading into the start of the 2025-2026 winter sports campaign….He also continues to play club soccer with TSF, which operates out of its headquarters in Lincoln Park….Keegan’s aunt is his mom’s sister, former MKA all-state swimmer Erin Stutz….Along with regulars Keegan, Jimenez-Stanley, Carrascosa and Hegna other dedicated seniors on the 2025 MKA soccer squad were Slater Sackman, Ranvir Chahal, Charlie Wolff and Charlie Freeman.

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