Article Kyle Roach - Trenton News Paper
Kyle Roach had the toughest decision of his high school career to make before the start of the 2009-2010 season.
After spending the first two years of high school at Notre Dame, he chose to spend the rest of his young experience with many of his club ball friends at the Pennington School.
No doubt the change went well for Roach.
The Red Raiders did not need him on defense, so co-coaches Ed Gauss and Kevin Murphy put Roach into the attack where he immediately provided dividends.
After two games, Roach already had five goals and an assist. He went on to have a career-high 22 goals, tying him for the area lead, and eight assists, giving him 52 points, which led all prep players and was second in the area.
For his efforts, Roach has been named Prep Player of the Year.
His production helped make Pennington’s strong lineup even more formidable, so much so that the defending New Jersey Independent Schools Athletic Association Prep B champions decided to try their luck in the Prep A ranks.
That was no small step since St. Benedict’s has dominated the bracket since joining in 1991. Yet, following a near-miss versus the Gray Bees Sept. 17 (a 1-0 loss in which the Red Raiders actually scored the own goal), Roach and Co. found the confidence to finish No. 2 in Prep A, putting a scare into St. Benedict’s, which had opened a three-goal lead, with a 3-2 loss in the championship game.
As a result of its success, Pennington dominated this year’s All-Prep selections. Roach was joined by talented attackers Nate Bruccoleri and Chandler Fraser-Pauls on the first team as well as sweeper James Ehret and goalkeeper John Ricketti. Gauss and Murphy were also recognized as Prep Coaches of the Year.
Even though the Red Raiders met with a little disappointment in falling early from the Mercer County
