When Ben Chrnelich was thinking about what he wanted Real Central New Jersey’s outfit in the Women’s Premier Soccer League to look like this is it.
A strong team capable of winning a division title that is bolstered largely by local players from the soccer-tradition rich Greater Trenton area.
“Our mission is to continue providing a professionally run soccer organization program to the highest caliber and most committed players in the area,” said Chrnelich, who serves as Sporting Director for the women’s team. “We enjoy seeing players who have competed against each other in high school and academy leagues join together at RCNJ to represent our area.”
Season number four for RCNJ gets underway on Sunday night when it hosts West Mont United at 7 p.m. on the turf at Rider University’s Ben Cohen Field.
RCNJ will compete in the Colonial Division of the Mid-Atlantic Conference alongside Delaware Ospreys, Fever SC, Penn Fusion, Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals, SJEB FC and West Mont United.
SJEB and Penn Fusion are both ranked in the preseason top-25.
The 10-game schedule begins on Sunday and runs through June 30, with playoffs to follow as teams compete for the Jerry Zanelli Cup. Rosters consist of collegiate, post-collegiate, international, and standout prep athletes.
“The club has experienced significant growth in the programs offered, fan interest and community support,” Chrnelich said, pointing to increased attendance since moving from Mercer CC to Rider University for home games last season.
“In additional to the Women’s team being consistently a top ranked WPSL team, the club has seen notable success with its youth teams (U13, U15 & U18) competing at the USL Academy Cup. Our attendance has grown every year with the WPSL games seeing over 250 supporters in attendance, plus many more watching the live stream. Our focus on a player centric environment continues to attract top players to our program and recommendations from collegiate coaches to play and train with Real Central NJ in preparation for the fall college season.”
The roster is highlighted by familiar names.
It includes former CVC Player of the Year Sophia Lis (Lehigh University/ Princeton High) and this fall’s Prep and Area Co-Player of the Year Morgan Kotch (Villanova University/ Pennington School).
Some other notable players include captains Ava Curtis (TCNJ/ Hillsborough High) and Stella Kahn (La Salle University/ Eastern Regional High), Brooke Steel (American University/ Shawnee High), Riley Hayes (Bucknell University/ Hun School), Kirsten Ruf (Rice University/ Princeton Day) and Nicola Mosionek (Rider University/ Hopewell Valley) among others.
Brian Thomson returns as head coach for his fourth season, and he’ll be assisted by Jamie Skarupsky, a former goalkeeper for the team, and Allentown High head coach Kim Maurer.
“Trenton’s soccer roots are deep and we are proud to play our part in continuing to ensure players can stay local while competing against the best talent up and down the East Coast,” Chrnelich said.