Diego Ovalle made a last-minute switch of sports.
Ovalle, like his older brother, Jose, who now kicks for the Sussex County Community College football team, played on the Ewing High School football team. Ovalle played football for Ewing for three years but finally followed his roots to start his senior year.
“My father, he’s been begging me to play soccer,” Ovalle said. “I wasn’t really sure, but he convinced me at the last second, so I had to switch. I had to try it out.”
Ovalle made a quick impact. He brings a winning attitude after sharing in the football team’s recent success, adds to a senior class that already has the likes of standout defender Noah Williams, and provides a boost to the attack for a program that has struggled to score goals. In his second game of the season, he scored five times in a 7-1 win over Lakewood.
“I felt like I was going to do good because I had stuff going on and was motivated to just score, I was thinking, at least two goals,” Ovalle said. “It motivated me, but once I scored two goals I wanted more.”
Ewing had 15 goals all of last season while picking up a pair of wins. The Blue Devils matched that win total in their first week and had 14 goals in their first six games. That’s helped elevate expectations for a team that came in aiming for a more successful season with so much experience back.
“We have a good shot of competing in the CVC,” said Ewing head coach DJ Zedalis. “I’ve had these guys since they were sophomores up on varsity and this is their senior year and we’ve been plagued with injuries and other things have come up, but I think everybody’s heads are still in it and they want it really bad. We’re definitely looking to make some noise here and see what kind of stuff we have in the CVC.”
Williams is one of the returning pieces. He’s healthy to start the year, which is a significant change from a year ago when the Blue Devils began the season without his services. He’s been an anchor in the back for the defense and part of a 10-deep senior class.
“I think mentality-wise, we’re just a lot more driven to just get the job done together as a team,” Williams said. “In the past, we weren’t some of the best leaders. The seniors this year really did a good job stepping up. Also, some of the new guys like Diego and Jayden (Santos) have brought nothing but quality to this team.”
Opening the season with a pair of wins helped build confidence and affirm the higher expectations. Williams would like to see a turnaround in Ewing’s fortunes before he exits his scholastic career and hopes to continue playing in college, where he plans to study construction management. Being a senior has helped him appreciate each day and look to lead Ewing’s resurgence.
“Because we’ve all been through it, we’ve been through all the losses,” Williams said. “We know what it feels like. And we know that the only way to change it is to do something about it.”
Williams saw differences over the summer. The returning veterans were more focused than ever and put time and effort into making sure this would be a special season.
“We kind of felt it just by realizing how every senior was taking their preparation seriously during the summer,” Williams said. “We were all working, all constantly working together, whether it was running or getting touches on the ball at the field together. We really made sure this summer that we actually put in all the proper work, did what we needed to do. Especially since most of the teams in the CVC this year, they don’t have a lot of seniors coming back, we were one of the teams that kind of kept our core, so we knew that if it was gonna be a year, this is it.”
This is an Ewing team that has all the capabilities to turn it around even after a heartbreaking 3-2 overtime loss to Trenton dropped the Blue Devils to 2-4 overall. The addition of Ovalle has been big. He’s come off the bench to provide an instant spark, and he’s raised standards right from the start.
“Before I joined soccer, I looked at the soccer team and I saw the record,” he said. “I was like, they just need the mentality, they need that football mentality. So I came in, and I can teach them how to have a good mentality, how to actually be disciplined, be serious about the games. And I’m not a captain, but the way I talk to them, it just feels like I’m a leader to them. And I set the mood for them to actually be serious.”
Ovalle felt a little rusty in his first game, but he found his touch again soon. He was born and lived his first eight years in Guatemala, where his father played. In his native country, Ovalle first saw flashes of his ability as a striker. But it had been almost a decade since he played when he decided to get back on the pitch.
“A couple months before I joined the soccer team, I played a little bit with grown men in like a bubble,” Ovalle said. “It went pretty well, so I actually liked it. So I was thinking way before my dad convinced me, I was thinking to join soccer because me personally, I still have the love for soccer.”
Bringing his skills and attitude has given the Blue Devils a lift. Both have been important.
“He’s a workhorse,” Zedalis said. “He’s all for the team. Like the game that he scored five, he didn’t even start. He came off the bench. And that’s how we’ve kind of been utilizing him because he’s quick, he’s in your face and creates opportunities.”
The defense has also looked better around Williams, fellow senior defender Nate Muntone and goalies Xander Coston and Kody Schneider. They’ve been better at limiting chances, buckling down and not giving up goals in bunches.
“The back line has been very solid,” Williams said. “I think, especially in the first two games, you could really see it because we were fully healthy, all out there, just flying around, playing together, the shifting is a lot better, me and Nate back there commanding. It’s been class.”
Zedalis sees an improved attitude across the roster. The Blue Devils are better equipped to handle the ups and downs of game flow. They are creating more scoring chances, finishing more of those chances and finding ways to play better through the end of games. With so much experience back and the team hungry to improve, things have started differently.
“Sophomore year, I think they were kind of like, we’re here for fun,” Zedalis said. “Last year they really started turning it around. We were in a lot of those games, but whenever you’re down 1-0 and the second goal goes in and there’s eight minutes left, heads go down and you can’t call timeouts so teams really would just smack us around for the last 10 minutes of every game last year. This year they keep their heads up. The Neptune game, we were down 1-0 and scored 30 seconds after they did. So, I definitely think maturity is the big key to our season so far.”
Combining a group of seniors determined to play better with some motivated newcomers like Ovalle has been the perfect formula. He brought over a winning attitude and has continued to preach the good habits that produce results.
“I feel like the soccer team just needed to be more aggressive, just have a better mentality,” Ovalle said. “I was watching their games before, I feel like they let them score and then they just keep their heads down and then they just give up. So when I see that, I pick them up, I help them get back up and every time they’re lazy, I tell them, ‘Hey man, you need to get back up. You got to work hard. You gotta trust the process.’ This is the same for football too. We kept working hard.”
Ovalle was versatile on the football field, lining up everywhere from running back to wide receiver to outside linebacker. He also kicked. Now he’s kicking it plenty for the Ewing soccer team, where he’s making a bigger name for himself and helping to inspire others to join the program. His father is proud of him for playing, and he’s found a perfect fit.
“I feel like they really needed a striker,” Ovalle said. “So I’m glad I’m here.”
He’s been a key addition to a senior class and an Ewing soccer team that is working toward one of its best seasons in recent history. It’s a class that wants to put the Blue Devils in a good position going forward. Putting together a strong finish would make it all the more memorable.
“That would mean the world to me,” Williams said. “Being from Ewing my whole life and growing up here, coming up through the Ewing soccer program and playing for the Ewing travel team when they had a travel system. There was a lot of struggling these past three years. Finally seeing the work pay off would definitely be different too.”
