Team of the Year

Montville

Rarely is a choice more clear-cut. The Mustangs were the dominant team in the Jersey Sports Now area this soccer season, posting a 24-2 record while winning three titles, outdoing their performance from the prior year.

Montville eased to the NJAC American Division crown, then won the Morris County title in dramatic fashion with a 1-0 overtime victory against Chatham. The Mustangs also repeated as champs in North Jersey Section 1, Group III, beating a highly-ranked Ramapo team before knocking off Wayne Valley in the sectional final.

While their final goal of a trip to the state Group III final was denied, as Chatham gained revenge with an overtime win of its own in the state semifinal, Montville stood head and shoulders above the field and are the JSN Boys' Soccer Team of the Year.

Player of the Year

J.P. Correa, Montville

The Rutgers-bound senior was the engine that made the Mustangs go, a ball-handling wizard who could create his own scoring chances or make things happen for his teammates. He put up an astounding 34 goals and 16 assists this season and saved his best for last in the sectional tournament. Correa put the ball in the net 11 times in four games to lead his team to the title, including four goals against Wayne Valley in the section final.

Whether you write his name as J.P. or Juan Pablo, Correa will be found on any list of the best players in New Jersey. The main man on a very talented team, J.P. Correa is also our JSN Boys' Soccer Player of the Year.

Coach of the Year

Ryan DeFeo, Hawthorne

This might not have been the best boys' soccer season in Hawthorne High School's history. After all, we hear the 1936 team was pretty good. But after that the Bears went into hibernation for three-quarters of a century, from which they finally emerged this year.

DeFeo, a 2000 graduate of Hawthorne, led the Bears to a 15-5-1 record and the first league title in boys' soccer in school history. Hawthorne earned its first home state playoff game since that 1936 season, and when the Bears beat Hasbrouck Heights, it was also their first state win in 74 years. The Bears won a second state game too, before falling to Kinnelon in the sectional semifinal.

Hawthorne will lose most of its key players except star midfielder Walther Castillo and forward Juan Guido. DeFeo, who helped build up the program as JV coach before taking over the varsity in 2009, has work to do, but now he knows it can be done, and he is our JSN Boys' Soccer Coach of the Year.

-- Paul Mencher for Jersey Sports Now