Published December 31, 2020
NORTH READING — The North Reading High School boys’ soccer team had a season for the history books this fall, finishing with a record of 7-1-2 to earn a share of the Cape Ann League Kinney Division title. It was the team’s first CAL championship since 2006.
The Hornets outscored their opponents 22-5 which is an average score of 2.2-0.5.
North Reading had two players named to the CAL First Team, three players named to the CAL Second Team and one named to the EMass All-Star team. They also had four honorable mentions in the league.
Senior defender John Tramontozzi and sophomore forward Josh Stanieich were named CAL First Team All-Stars.
John Tramontozzi is a three-year letterman and a three-year starter on defense. A co-captain this season, he helped hold opponents to five goals in 10 games in 2020.
“John is the blueprint for any great central defender,” said head coach Mark Bisognano. “He never gets beat 1v1 and he can start the attack with precision passes. He has great tactical awareness for the game and is a leader on and off the field.”
In addition to being First Team CAL All-Star, Stanieich also got the nod as an EMass All-State All-Star. He is the first player in the program to be named All-State in over 20 years. The sophomore scored nine goals and had four assists in 10 games. He was also the team’s leading scorer in 2019 as a freshman with 10 goals and three assists in 20 games. The Hornets named him team MVP this season.
“Josh is a tremendously gifted player who works hard at his game,” said Bisognano. “He worked hard in the off-season to improve and it showed on the field. I am pleased that he was recognized as an All-State player and I can’t wait to see what his junior year brings.”
Seniors Sam McGeachie and Nick Pasquale and junior Kiernan Schulz were named CAL Second Team All-Stars.
McGeachie, a two-year starter in the midfield who often controlled the tempo of the game through possession and passing, was a co-captain this season. He scored two goals and had an assist.
“Sam was a key to our ability to control games through possession,” said Bisognano. “He always seemed to make the right pass and while he didn’t have a lot of assists this season it was usually a pass that Sam made that opened up the defense and allowed someone else to get the assist.”
Pasquale, a two-year starter at right back, was another key component of NR’s dominant defense. He was also a co-captain this season.
“Nick brought a high compete level to the field every game. He hated losing and instilled that competitive spirit throughout the team,” said Bisognano.
Schulz is a versatile player who played midfield and defense. He led the team in assists with four. He scored three goals as a sophomore in 2019.
“Kiernan is a very skilled player who can also defend,” said Bisognano. “He shows great vision and can jump into the attack from the backline.”
Cape Ann League 2020 honorable mentions from NRHS are senior co-captain Mark Tramontozzi, junior midfielder Alex Carpenter, junior forward Jake Mikulski and sophomore goalkeeper Kieran Gorgenyi.
Mark Tramontozzi missed his junior year due to injury and he came back to be a co-captain and help lead a young Hornet midfield in 2020.
Carpenter was the second leading scorer on the team this season with three goals and three assists.
Mikulski scored three goals to tie for second most.
Gorgenyi was a first-year starter in net for the Hornets. He started all 10 games and earned seven clean sheets while giving up only five goals for a goals against average of 0.50.
