Jack Dugan, Haddonfield, Forward, Jr.?

Dugan had a Sophomore season to remember with 16 goals and 13 assists.  He landed on second team All-Group 2.

Jack Dugan, Haddonfield, Jr.

Dugan tallied 16 goals and 13 assists for Haddonfield as a sophomore last season and appears to be primed for even better numbers in 2016.  Dugan's efforts last season helped Haddonfield to an 18-2-1 record.

Haddonfield Bulldogs

Coach: Ryan Nixon (43-17-3)

Conference: Conference - Liberty

Last season: 18-2-1, advanced to South Jersey, Group 2 quarterfinals

STORY: Haddonfield dedicating season to longtime assistant coach

Key players returning:

• D Jon Skiba (sr.) – 3 assists
• F Jack Dugan (jr.) – 18 goals, 15 assists
• M Sam DeCencio (jr.) – 8 goals, 8 assists
• M Max Green (jr.) – 5 goals

Key players lost:

• Jonathan Baxter - starting GK, one of top keepers in South Jersey
• Wyatt Dugan – 12 goals, 13 assists
• Matt Fell – led the team with 21 goals
• Cole Fabbri – 3rd Team All-State Defender
• Cole Pollack – 1 goal

Newcomers to watch:

• M Will Sabia (jr.)
• GK Finn Miller (jr.)
• M Alex Axmann (sr.)
• F Steve DiTomaso (so.)

STORY: Haddonfield's Miller making up for lost time after scary injury

2016 Outlook: Haddonfield won its first 17 games last season and looked unbeatable, finishing the entire season with just eight goals allowed. Over their final four games, though, the Bulldogs went 1-2-1, including a loss in the quarterfinals as the top seed.

That’s behind them now, with the remains of that loss only adding fuel to the upcoming season. They’ll lose some top of the line talent, especially in the net in Jonathan Baxter, as well as leading scorer Matt Fell and 25-point man Wyatt Dugan. Yet, Haddonfield was so deep last year that those losses will be mitigated. Jack Dugan and Sam DeCencio will be one of the top 1-2 duos in the area, having combined for 39 goals and 33 assists when playing on the same field. There will also be about four sophomores who will push for serious playing time, including Steve DiTomaso, a striker that is capable of double-digit goals.

The backend will be the only question mark for Haddonfield. Outside of replacing their goalkeeper, they’ll have to replace three key defenders. Jon Skiba will assume the heavy responsibilities of anchoring the back line this season. With the talent on the upswing, this issue should get resolved fairly early on in the season as Haddonfield continues to push forward.

There’s going to be some key pieces needed to be replaced, but Nixon’s squad is more than prepared for the task. Haddonfield may not win 17 in a row like they did last season, but they’ll certainly be among the top programs in South Jersey as they look for a second straight conference title.

STORY: Club success fueling Haddonfield's Dugan, DeCencio

Stat to know: In 2014, Haddonfield finished 11-9. That led to a seven win increase last season.

They said it: “This team will remain competitive despite having to replace a number of talented seniors from 2015 lost to graduation. A repeat as Colonial Conference Liberty Division Champs in 2016 would signal a true return to form for our program which is seeking to make it back to a SJ Final for the first time since 2011.” Head coach Ryan Nixon

VIDEO: Sights and sounds from Haddonfield's practice

Kyle Phillippi covers Camden County sports for NJ.com. You can follow him on Twitter, @KylePhillippisHS, and be sure to follow @HSSportsSJ for all your area sports news. 

COLONIAL CONFERENCE

LIBERTY DIVISION

Favorite: Despite some key graduations, Haddonfield is still the team to beat in the Colonial Conference. Jack Dugan looks to build on a 16 goal, 13 assist sophomore season. Sam DeCencio, Max Green, and Jon Skiba all expect to get involved in the offensive game as well. With Jonathan Baxter graduated, Haddonfield will likely look to Adam Goodman to take over in goal.

Contenders: If anyone is going to knock off Haddonfield, Sterling is the most primed to do so. Justin Hofacker is coming off a 12 goal season, while Bryan Andrade is coming off a eight goal freshman season. Fellow sophomore Zach Collins and freshman Simon Tnlang are expected to step up in the attacking third as well. Sterling's biggest hole comes in net after graduating star Tyler Blair.

West Deptford graduated its two leading scorers and will look to sophomore Jake Paratore and juniors Jared Schultes and Kyle Whitehouse to step up in the attacking third. Senior Ian Kruithof returns to the goal after making 102 saves in 2015.

Other Members: Audubon, Collingswood, Overbrook

PATRIOT DIVISION

Favorites: Both Haddon Heights and Haddon Township are without their leading scorers from last year, but both squads have enough depth to duke it out for the top spot in the Patriot Division.

Senior midfielder Nick Mosko and junior back/midfielder Chris Snyder are Haddon Heights' leading scorers, while Jake Hourani, Kevin Kolaski, Lance Weber and Mark Weber are all expected to step up in the attacking third. Senior Jack Hammill will return to his post between the pipes after making 99 saves last season.

Haddon Township will be very deep in the midfield with senior Sean Murphy and Michael Reece back. Up front senior Jacob Howley looks to lead the attack, while Jared and Zach Green hold down the defensive third in front of Kieran Burns, who made 110 saves last year.

Contender: Lindenwold lost a good amount to graduation, including 20 goals scores Jesus Cardenas and Oumar Sylla, but should be in the hunt for the divisional title. Javier Ramirez, Nelson Miranda and Fernando Canas all look to help replace the top scorers, while the South Jersey, Group 1 runnerups try to replace Enmanuel Ortega in goal.

Other Members: Gateway, Paulsboro, Woodbury

Richard Greco may be reached at rgreco@njadvancemedia.com.  Follow him on Twitter @RichardGrecoHS . Find NJ.com on Facebook.

HADDONFIELD -- The West Deptford boys soccer team felt like it could do nothing right on Friday afternoon.

And unfortunately for the Eagles, Haddonfield could do no wrong.

Suffering from sluggish play for a majority of the game while unable to control one of its main rivals, West Deptford fell to Haddonfield, 6-1, in a clash of Colonial Conference-Liberty Division heavyweights.

“We didn’t come out slow, but then we gave up a goal and just kind of folded,” West Deptford head coach Steve Jakubowski said. “It just seemed like there was a lack of courage throughout from our guys. We faced a lot of adverse situations today, and obviously we didn’t come through on a lot of them.”

Despite the final score, West Deptford (2-2) opened the game matching Haddonfield stride-for-stride, as the teams looked even throughout the first 20 minutes. However, the Bulldawgs scored their first goal in the 24th minute and then never looked back.

Haddonfield (4-1) led 3-0 by the break and then tacked on two more just four minutes into the second half. West Deptford countered with its lone goal in the 61st minute, when Jared Schultes scored on a penalty kick, but the Bulldawgs again answered with their sixth goal in the 68th.

“We tried to make some changes, but they just didn’t seem to work for us,” Jakubowski said. “Our guys just didn’t have it today.”

Haddonfield was led by Max Green and Steve DiTomaso, who each had two goals, while Luke Benedict and Jack Dugan also scored. DiTomaso, Benedict, Dugan, Gabe DaSilva and Sam DeCencio added assists.

Haddonfield goalie Finn Miller made four saves, while West Deptford’s Jackson Clark made 12.

“I was obviously very pleased with the way we played, especially because West Deptford is one of our strongest opponents and best rivals,” Haddonfield head coach Ryan Nixon said. “We always look forward to these games, and that’s because there’s so much mutual respect. But we were very composed today, and took advantage of our chances. This was probably the best game we’ve played this season.”

Haddonfield has opened the season with victories in four of its first five with wins over Overbrook, Schalick and Audubon, and now West Deptford.

Meanwhile, the loss was extremely disappointing for the Eagles, who entered as winners of two straight after the team took down Audubon and Collingswood earlier this week. Before Friday, West Deptford’s lone loss had come to undefeated Sterling.

Despite the setback, Jakubowski said his team learned valuable lessons and his players wouldn’t let one game ruin their season.

“This group is so tight-knit, I don’t think they’ll let this destroy what we have going,” he said. “Yeah, we’re going to dwell on this today and tomorrow. But by Monday but we’re going to get right back after it.”

The first full weekend is beyond us and the Garden State had plenty of great action on the pitch.

Plenty of players are off to quick starts to the year and NJ.com wants to know who you think had the best week. Vote early and often in NJ.com's first top performer poll. The poll will come to a close on Friday, Sept. 23 at noon. There is one player from each conference in the state.

The poll is located at the bottom of this post.

Big North
Ryan Miller, Pascack Valley
Miller opened the season with a hat trick in a 9-1 victory over Teaneck. The senior wasn’t done there and scored the game-winner in a 1-0 overtime triumph over Old Tappan and both of the Indians goals in a 2-1 win over Demarest.

BCSL
Pat Harkansan, Holy Cross
Harkansan tallied nine goals, the most in the conference, in five games for Holy Cross this season. Harkansan scored four times in Holy Cross' 6-1 win over Trenton Catholic on Sept. 12.

Cape-Atlantic League
Randy Knapp, Buena
The senior started off the year in style scoring 12 goals as Buena opened the year 5-0. Knapp’s stellar week was highlighted by a seven-goal performance in a 7-3 win over St. Joseph (Hamm.) on Friday, Sept. 9.

Colonial Conference
Steve DiTomaso, Haddonfield
The sophomore has struck in all four of Haddonfield’s victories this season. In the young year he has five goals and three assists.

Colonial Valley Conference
Randy Obiukwu, Hamilton West
Obiukwu scored eight times in the opening week for Hamilton West, which jumped out to an impressive 3-2 start. Obiukwu had three goals and one assist in Hamilton West's win over Pemberton on Sept. 10.

GMC
Matt Mischler, Monroe
In a conference that appears to be wide open, Monroe has jumped out as the top dog thanks in large part of the play of Matt Mischler. Through five games, Mischler has tallied eight goals and four assists for the Falcons, who are 5-0.

NJIC
Julius Rivas, Saddle Brook
Rivas scored two hat tricks in the opening week to help Saddle Brook open the season 3-1. He has eight goals so far this year.

NJAC
Rakip Veliu, Boonton
The senior opened the season with two goals and as many assists in a 6-3 win over Madison on opening day. The playmaker continued setting up his teammates and in the young season has three goals and six assists.

Olympic
Elliot Cumba, Cherry Hill West
Cumba had a strong first week for Cherry Hill West with eight goals and two assists through five games. Cumba had three goals and one assist in Cherry Hill West's season-opening win over Timber Creek.

Shore
Matt O'Connell, Pinelands
O'Connell, No. 2 in the state in goals with 11, was nearly unstoppable in the opening week of the season for Pinelands. O'Connell had three goals each in wins over Lakewood and Point Pleasant Boro before netting four in a 5-1 win over Manchester Township.

Skyland
Nick Millett, Montgomery
Millett was busy for Montgomery this week, as he finished with 39 saves in five games for the Cougars. Millett had 11-save outputs against Bound Brook and Pingry and made seven stops in a 1-0 loss to West Windsor-Plainsboro North.

SEC
Tommy Falus, Livingston
The senior polished off a great week with a hat trick and an assist in Livingston’s 4-1 win over Dickinson on Saturday. He has five goals and two assists on the year.

Tri-County
Shane Hartey, Triton
Hartey scored nine goals in the opening week of the season for Triton. He scored all three goals in a win over Deptford on Sept. 12 and had two goals in each of Triton's wins over Delsea, Glassboro, and Woodstown.

Union
Jafeth Reyes, Summit
The senior picked up right where he left off from 2015. He leads Union County with eight goals and on Saturday scored all four goals in a 4-1 win over Johnson. He also scored the game-winner in Thursday’s 1-0 win over Cranford.

When Finn Miller tells his tale of survival, he’s often asked if he thought he was going to die.

Alone in the woods, a broken left femur and tibia, a torrential storm pummeling his battered body, no cell phone, no help in sight – he understands the question.

“I think that could’ve happened if things went worse,” the 16-year-old admitted, “but that thought wasn’t in my mind.”

The Haddonfield High School junior was in a bad way after his Yamaha 230cc trailbike veered off course after hitting a patch of sand near Hammonton last summer, causing his leg to swing off the bike and collide with a tree.

“It was just dangling,” Miller said of his leg after the crash.

He was two miles into the trail and about four miles from his grandparents’ home, and he understood the severity of his situation immediately. However, Miller wasn’t going to just lie on his back and hope help would come.

Miller attempted to get up and use his bike as a walker for support, but that was too painful, so he grabbed a pair of sticks and tried to use them as crutches. When that didn’t work, he crawled. Even when the thunder and lightning struck, he kept moving.

“I’m not the kind of person that just sits there and waits for things to happen,” Miller said. “I was motivated to do something, like what I was doing, crawling. I wanted to get closer because I knew if they were going to come look for me, they had a better chance of finding me if I was closer (to the start of) the trail, so I kind of just made checkpoints. I was like that tree, I’m going to get to that tree, take a break. It was really tiring too, I think I fell asleep for like 10 minutes because I was so tired, and I remember being super, super thirsty, and once it rained I remember trying to drink the rain water because I was so thirsty.

“It was almost a survival instinct in there.”

Those instincts helped his grandparents and friend find him three hours later. That same perseverance helped him overcome six different surgeries, three blood transfusions and eight months of physical therapy to return to the Haddonfield High School soccer team this fall, where he earned the starting goaltender job.

“I definitely realized I would be out for a long time, but in my mind I had a goal to eventually be able to get back to where I was,” he said. “I never really I think told myself I wouldn’t play again."

The comeback trail

But Miller’s long road back had some bumps along the way.

After having a 16-inch rod inserted into his femur to repair the break, he began feeling tightness in his leg. Doctors discovered he had a hematoma, which forced him to go under the knife again. This surgery left a roughly 18-inch scar.

The complications didn’t stop there. Less than 24 hours after being released from the hospital in mid-August, he was rushed back because he developed compartment syndrome, where pressure builds up in a portion of the body.

“I was in such pain, I was angry, I was like angry at the nurses I remember,” Miller said. “… All the pain medication they gave me didn’t do anything.”

Thankfully the procedure went well, and he was discharged on Aug. 27. Three days later, he began PT.

The daily grind reminded him of his crawl back to civilization after his crash, but instead of setting his sights on a tree in the distance, it was getting off crutches or walking without a limp.

“I remember I had checkups with my orthopedic surgeon and he was amazed about how much motion I had (gained back),” Miller said.

He was cleared to return to action at the end of March and hoped get on the field for Haddonfield’s lacrosse team. However, the leg just didn’t feel right.

“I wasn’t cutting and stuff,” he said. “Obviously I had strength back and muscle and my bone was recovered and was healed and everything, but after not doing any athletics for that long of a time, I could tell my knee and my leg especially wasn’t used to it.”

So Miller made the difficult decision to sit the season out and continue building strength. It worked out.

“Going into the summer, I was a lot better even from March just from being active,” he said. “I did a lot of weight training over the winter and spring. That definitely helped me. … In the summer I go to the beach and I surf (at Long Beach Island), and my friends were asking me if I was going to be able to surf, and I was pretty confident I was, but I wasn’t 100 percent sure because obviously it’s twisting, it’s balance, it’s rotation. So I think once I was back on my board and able to surf again, I think I fully realized I was recovered.”

Starting goalie

Ryan Nixon’s biggest question entering the 2016 season was Haddonfield’s goaltender situation.

The Bulldawg coach had relied on Jonathan Baxter in net for three seasons, and replacing him wouldn’t be easy. However, his concerns were alleviated very early in the preseason.

“I really felt like there were going to be a lot of question marks as far as Finn was concerned and I think he’s really exceeded any expectations I’ve had,” Nixon said. “We told Finn and another boy, Adam Goodman, who’s a senior who backed up Jon Baxter for two years really, that they were going to face an open competition during camp, and literally two or three days into camp it was pretty clear, it was pretty apparent Finn was our guy.”

Miller knew he had big shoes to fill, but he’s definitely done the job as Haddonfield has started the season 4-1.

“He’s as gifted as any player I’ve ever had athletically,” Nixon said.

But it’s his character that has helped Miller exceed even his own expectations.

“I’m pretty impressed,” he admitted. “It’s a big accomplishment. I’m grateful to have come to be where I am now. … I put a lot into it, so what came out of it was rewarding.”

Josh Friedman; (856) 486-2431; jfriedman2@gannettnj.com

1. Cherokee (1) 7-0

2. Shawnee (2) 5-1

3. Delran (3) 7-1

4. Rancocas Valley (4) 6-2

5. Washington Township (5) 6-2

6. St. Augustine (7) 5-0-1

7. Clearview (8) 6-0-1

8. Egg Harbor Township (10) 6-1

9. Cherry Hill West (NR) 7-1

10. Haddonfield (6) 5-2-2

HADDONFIELD – Seldom does anything good from a confrontation between a teenager on a dirt bike and a tree.

Just ask Finn Miller.

A junior goalie on the Haddonfield High School boys soccer team, Miller had such an accident in August of 2015.

The collision cost him a year of rehabilitation time that included missing his sophomore seasons as both a soccer and a lacrosse player.

But this season he has returned fully recovered, and ready to go.

“I notice things,” Miller said when asked if he feels 100 percent healthy. “But there’s nothing that impairs my ability.”

On Thursday Miller gave up only a penalty kick goal in the first 20 seconds of the game, but then posted a clear sheet the rest of the way.

With his help, along with two goals from Jack Dugan, Haddonfield rallied for a 3-1 win over Sterling as the Bulldawgs kept alive their hopes of winning the Colonial Conference Liberty Division title.

Sterling (10-2-1) could have gone a long way toward locking up the title with a win. But now the Knights join Haddonfield (9-3-2) with one loss each in the conference.

Afterward, Haddonfield coach Ryan Nixon spoke about how far Miller has come back from a broken femur (the upper leg bone), which the coach described as, “an horrific injury.”

“You can’t say enough about Finn Miller,” Nixon said. “We weren’t sure what Finn was going to give us this year, but up to this point he’s been spectacular.”

Finn’s teammates have been inspired by his comeback.

“The whole story with Finn and the bike crash is unbelievable,” said Dugan. “Now he’s back saving us and to have him back there it’s just surreal.”

After sustaining the injury Miller was hospitalized for a month and he underwent a couple of surgeries to repair the damage. That led to a long period of rehabilitation.

“Unfortunately I missed the soccer season last year,” he said. “After physical therapy from September to March, I felt pretty good. But I still wasn’t able to play lacrosse, which is my second sport. I really wasn’t ready yet.”

His first attempt to play competitive soccer again came during workouts last summer. He was still a bit physically limited, but his mental outlook was good.

“I tried to do what I could,” he said. “There were people who said I’d never be the same, but I was optimistic.

“Then through constant training, I was able to get both of my legs back up to where they were. I was grateful for that.

“The fact I couldn’t play last year makes me determined to play even harder this year.”

According to Nixon, Miller has already stopped two penalty kicks this season, the coach said he gave it a 50-50 shot that he could do it again.

But Sterling’s Justin Hofacker had no problem finding an opening part of the goal to give his team an extremely early 1-0 lead.

Considering that Sterling had defeated Haddonfield 4-3 as recently as last Saturday, you’d think that goal would have given the Silver Knights a lot of momentum.

But Dugan came back only six minutes later to tie the score with his own penalty kick after Sterling was flagged for a hand-ball in the box.

“After they scored 20 seconds into the game we needed a response or they could have rolled all over us,” Dugan said. “All year long we just never gave up on anything. On Saturday we were down 3-0, but we made a comeback.”

Soon after the Dugan goal, Haddonfield took command of the game when Will Sabia scored off a rebound with 24:31 to play in the half to give the Bulldawgs a 2-1 lead.

Then Dugan scored on a nicely placed free kick from 22 yards out with 6:44 remaining in the half and the defense held the Silver Knights off the rest of the way.