WEST WINDSOR — With another of their teams having reached a state final this fall, the Colonial Valley Conference’s varsity boys’ soccer coaches, in cooperation with sponsor Real Central NJ Soccer (represented by founder/general manager/men’s coach Ira Jersey and general manager/women’s coach Ben Chrnelich, a former Notre Dame High standout), celebrated the 2025 season Wednesday night at Mercer Oaks (directed by another ND soccer alum Jim Hines) when they held their 52nd annual postseason banquet to honor the coaches’ picks for the league’s top players.
Robbinsville reached its third state final in four seasons; Colonial Division co-champ Notre Dame topped fellow co-champ Princeton, 2-1, in overtime in the CVC Tournament Final; and Trenton won its second straight Valley Division crown, this time outright; to headline another fine fall which was filled with plenty of talented soccer standouts to laud.
Leading the list of 57 players chosen by these 15 coaches for All-CVC honors were eight players from the 17-2-2 Irish and eight more from the 16-4-2 Tigers.
The 17-8-1 Ravens, who played well in the Group II Final before falling to Madison, 4-3 in overtime, had six players honored at the event, where T-shirts and sweatshirts were donated by yet another former Irish standout Les Korsos from soccer.com.
Five players apiece came from 13-8 Trenton and 12-8-2 Allentown, while four each represented 12-8 Steinert and 5-15-1 Nottingham.
The Tornadoes and Irish were the only teams with multiple award winners among the association’s top prizes.
Trenton senior Aaron Merlin was selected as the Billy Gazonas Midfielder of the Year, while Anthony Carsella was selected by his peers as the league’s Glenn “Mooch” Myernick Coach of the Year after leading the Tornadoes to their most victories in nearly three decades.
Notre Dame, which led the way with five players on first team, had senior Landon Hoenisch named as the Dom Stillitano Forward of the Year. Hoenisch’s junior teammate Anthony Merluse, who helped the team post an area-best 14 shutouts, was chosen as Judge Al Cooper Goalkeeper of the Year.
Princeton senior back Chase Hamerschlag received the CVC’s Bobby Smith Defender of the Year honor. He was also one of three players returning on the coaches’ first team for a second straight year, along with Irish senior midfielder Nick Angiolino and Robbinsville senior Nico Mathews, who made this year’s team as a midfielder after being picked as a defender in 2024.
Three other seniors got special honors as Lawrence High’s first team, senior midfielder Raul Sepulveda took home the Brian “Maynard” Welsh Award; West Windsor-Plainsboro South’s senior goalkeeper Joaquin Vitulich was recipient of the Vince Palmere Award; and Nottingham’s senior midfielder Andres Menendez received the Mickey Forker “Love of the Game” Award.
Todd Jacobs was the league’s choice as Referee of the Year after also having been through these events as a player, coach and father.
The WBCB Sports Network, part of a Bucks County, Pa.-based radio station (1490 AM/107.3 FM) which has made an impact on the area by live-streaming numerous high school sporting events, was honored with the CVC Coaches’ Red Birch Media Award, presented to on-air personality Mike Warren by the award’s namesake.
The rest of the 2025 Coaches’ All-CVC boys’ soccer selections looked like this:
First Team
Goalkeeper: Anthony Merluse (Notre Dame).
Defenders: Chase Hamerschlag (Princeton), Jayce Palumbo (Notre Dame), Aiden Phillips (Lawrence), Ryan Checkowski (Steinert), Max Goldberg (Robbinsville).
Midfielders: Aaron Merlin (Trenton), Raul Sepulveda (Lawrence), Nick Angiolino (Notre Dame), Nick Mathews (Robbinsville), Aaron Thyrum (Princeton).
Forwards: Landon Hoenisch (Notre Dame), Chris DiMarco (Steinert), Luca Ercolano (Notre Dame).
Second Team
Goalkeeper: Ari Rosenblum (Princeton).
Defenders: Riley Miracola (Notre Dame), Angel Morales-Rivera (Princeton), Jose Esteban (Trenton), Rushil Sakrikar (WW-P South).
Midfielders: Tyler Javick (Notre Dame), David de los Santos (Trenton), Matt Laurinaitis (Allentown), Ridgeanno Peralte (Nottingham), Zach Barton (Steinert).
Forwards: Isaiah de la Espriella (Princeton), Chris Lewis (Robbinsville), Keegan Fullman (PDS).
Third Team
Goalkeepers: Dan Ciodyk (Allentown), Kaempfer Harjes (Hopewell Valley).
Defenders: Jaxson DeRossett (Hopewell Valley), Justin Schreyer (Robbinsville), Andre Ansarah (Princeton), Aiden Luciano (PDS), Orlin Gonzalez Lopez (Hamilton West), Jeremy Schaffel (WW-P South), Deneiro Hylton (Trenton), Lester Bracero (Nottingham), Eydan Coronel (Hightstown), Michael Marinello (Allentown), Krzysztof Zaluska (Lawrence).
Midfielders: Archie Seas (Hopewell Valley), Henry Honeywood (Robbinsville), Tacto Yamada (Princeton), Victor Maldonado Silva (Hightstown), Jayden Geleta (Allentown), Felipe Samuel (Notre Dame), Jacob Thinji (WW-P North), Ivan Marinov (Princeton), Nate Muntone (Ewing).
Forwards: Herbie Addo (Nottingham), Hector Aldana Lopez (Trenton), Joe Barber (Allentown), Derek Monahan (Steinert), Kriss Makkar (PDS), Josh Sanchez (Robbinsville).
Judge Al Cooper Goalkeeper of the Year: Anthony Merluse (Notre Dame).
Bobby Smith Defender of the Year: Chase Hamerschlag (Princeton).
Billy Gazonas Midfielder of the Year: Aaron Merlin (Trenton).
Dom Stillitano Forward of the Year: Landon Hoenisch (Notre Dame).
Glenn “Mooch” Myernick Coach of the Year: Anthony Carsella (Trenton).
Vince Palmere Award: Joaquin Vitulich (WW-P South).
Brian “Maynard” Welsh Award: Raul Sepulveda (Lawrence).
Mickey Forker “Love of the Game” Award: Andres Menendez (Nottingham).
Red Birch Media Award: WBCB Sports Network.
Referee of the Year: Todd Jacobs.
