Captains leading the way for Rangers

HAMBURG — There are just about always areas of uncertainty for a head coach heading into the regular season. This is especially true if it’s his or hers first year on the job.
However, Sean Neal, the new head coach for the Wallkill Valley boy’s soccer program, is certain that he has the right student-athletes as captains.
This fall, Dominik Wygonowski and Sebastian Mianowski, both of whom are seniors, are the capable captains for the Rangers.
Neal is a 2012 graduate of Wallkill Valley and continued his athletic and academic careers at William Paterson University.
“I actually did not choose them as captains, the team did,’’ Neal said. “As a new coach, one tradition that I brought into the program from my college program that I played in was a team vote for captain. Dominik and Sebastian were voted captains by their teammates.
“Dominik has nine goals and four assists he leads the team in both categories. Sebastian has two goals and three assists. Sebastian plays a more defensive role and has done a great job leading the team from the back."
Mianowski and Wygonowski have not only accepted, but thrived in their leadership roles.
“They have both improved immensely in their leadership skills,’’ Neal said. “Coming into the season we knew we were going to be a young team. We have 10 freshmen training with varsity and for the most part they all play in the varsity games. They have done, as well as the other seniors, an outstanding job growing as leaders and guiding the young guys. “I told them in the beginning of the year that the freshmen would look up to them and that it is on them to be leaders for them. As the weeks went on, they have really embraced the role of being leaders for the young guys.’’
It’s definitely worth mentioning the ways in which the two captains help their teammates toward positive progression.
“Dominik and Sebastian push their teammates to improve every single day in practice," Neal said. “Both players are experienced varsity athletes with this being their fourth seasons on varsity. Both players have been named to the All-NJAC (Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference) Team and in addition, they both play on the club level for the Magpies.
“Their experience comes out every day in practice and they help the rest of the team in training drills. The younger guys look up to them and they get on the younger guys to work harder if they’re slacking off, or to constantly be improving to the best of their abilities."
As hard as they work on the field, Mianowski and Wygonowski know not to neglect what’s most important and that’s their class work.
“Dominik is a member of the Italian National Honor society, takes AP classes and is on Honor Roll," Neal said. “Sebastian is a member of the English Honor Society, National Honor Society, and Italian National Honor Society-takes AP class and is on the Honor Roll."
Several members of Wallkill Valley side have contributed this season.
“Grady Egan (senior) has started every game at center back and played every minute," Neal said. “His leadership and organizational skills have been vital to the team. Tanner Alves and Peter Egan (seniors) have done a great job filling in wherever needed. Skyler Hanisch (sophomore) has four goals and one assist. Eddie Piedrasanta (sophomore) has one goal and four assists. Tyler Sanchez (junior) has started every game. Ryan Keena and Patrick Stencel (freshmen) have started just about every game on defense. Ryan Silvestri (freshman) has started and played every minute-he has to date, 80 saves and three shutouts."

NOTES: The statistics listed above are from games played through Oct. 13. Wallkill Valley has a home game scheduled versus Hopatcong on Oct. 19.