Although the Jackson Memorial High School boys soccer team drew defending Central Jersey Group IV state sectional champion North Brunswick in its NJSIAA tournament opener and was holding only a 9-10-1 record, coach Steve Bado liked his team's chances.

The Jaguars won six games on the road in 2009, and when they scored first they lost only one game. In fact, over the past five years, Bado said, his team had only two losses when scoring first. And an array of injuries that sidelined players and forced others to be moved to different positions was behind the team as it was at full strength for one of the few times this season.

But scoring had been difficult for the Jaguars against the stronger teams in the Shore Conference A South Division at times this season, and in the state tournament game a North Brunswick player took a shot midway through the first half that went off the post and rolled over the line for the only goal of the game in a 1-0 victory for the Raiders that ended Jackson Memorial's campaign.

"We had a lot of opportunities," said Bado, referring to a breakaway by Connor Saker for a shot from six yards in the first half that was saved, and two opportunities in the second half, including Ryan Totin taking a shot that was just wide of the post and a direct kick by Josh DeLorenzo that was saved by the North Brunswick goalie.

"I thought they followed the game plan completely," Bado said of his players. "Of the 11 games we lost this season, nine were by one goal and we did not capitalize on our opportunities."

This season's performance was a turnaround from 2008 when the Jaguars won only seven games and missed the postseason after being ranked in the top 10 in the state at some point in the three previous seasons. With only three seniors who saw significant playing time in 2009, including DeLorenzo at center halfback, the future looks bright.

"I think we started off real competitive and real tough, and then at mid-season we had a lot of illness and injury and it was tough battling through that," Bado said.

The Jaguars lost five straight matches during one stretch and at one time had three starters out and another starter who could only see limited playing time because of injuries.

"Except for two games [losses to Southern Regional, 4-1, and Toms River South, 3- 0], we were losing games 1-0 and 2-1, and then we got the guys back [from injuries and illnesses] so we could move some of our players back to defense rather than having them up front to score goals," Bado said.

One added setback was having senior fullback Sal Bianacone relocate to Florida early in the season, which forced senior Mike Prendergast to be moved back to defense where he had played two seasons ago.

The Jaguars strung together three victories late in the season in order to qualify for the state tournament, although the team got hot too late for it to qualify for the Shore Conference Tournament.

"We had to win three games at the end [to qualify for the state tournament] and we did it," sophomore goalie Mike Folk said of the Jaguars' late-season surge. "We came together as a team. We came together defensively as a team."

It was exciting in the Folk household, becauseMike's sister, Kelly, plays on the JacksonMemorial girls soccer team that reached the Central Jersey Group IV semifinals this week, playing against East Brunswick on Nov. 9.

"It was exciting just to win and get into the states, and we talked about each other's games and to try to help each other [with advice]," said Mike.

"I play as a forward, but I know what they were doing with our goalie, and I would talk to Mike about it for his game," said Kelly. "It was good talking about it, a lot of fun seeing our teams make it."

Bado said Mike Folk had an excellent season in goal, noting that the Jaguars' plus- 10 finish in goals-for/goals-against was one of the best in the Shore Conference. The coach said Folk kept the Jaguars in position to win many matches.

"If he keeps on track, he'll be one of the best goalkeepers in this area. As a freshman last year, he stayed with the speed of the game, and this year his vision of the field got even better," the coach said of his sophomore goalie.

Folk will lose two defenders in front of him — Prendergast on the left side and Jake Jennings on the right side. Also missed will be the play of DeLorenzo, which Bado said is "big shoes to fill. He's a good leader."

DeLorenzo scored nine goals in 2009.

But there is plenty of proven talent that should be back for the Jaguars in 2010, including junior forwards Connor Saker and Jason Smith, junior outside midfielder Ryan Totin and sophomore center midfielder Joe Ogren, along with junior stopper Brandon Russo and sweeper Tom Denoville, a freshman who matured quickly at the position.