OBSERVER ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Lyndhurst’s DiTonto carries on with family tradition

It was only natural that Vincent DiTonto would become a soccer player.

After all, the Lyndhurst High School junior has a father, David, who has been a dutiful soccer coach with Lyndhurst travel teams since his son was a youngster.

And Vincent was also blessed with having an older sister, Giana, who was a fine soccer player in her own right _ and still plays for Felician University after a great career at Lyndhurst.

“My Dad taught me and my sister at a very young age,” Vincent DiTonto said. “He eventually became my coach, so I learned a lot. I was also very motivated by my sister. After watching her play, I decided that I wanted to be like her. We’re both very competitive. She really pushed me a lot. We would go back and forth.”

The DiTonto family embraced basketball and baseball in those respective seasons. Vincent became a small forward in basketball and an outfielder in baseball.

“But it’s all mainly soccer,” DiTonto said. “It’s been that way for both me and my sister. Since she was older than me (three years older), I wanted to be like her.”

What teenaged kid actually admits that he wanted to be like his older sister? That statement alone took a lot of guts.

“She was a great player at Lyndhurst,” DiTonto said. “She set the school record for assists. Why wouldn’t I want to be like her?”

When the current soccer season began, DiTonto knew that he had a bigger responsibility this season as a captain and proven scorer. After all, DiTonto scored 13 goals last season as a striker for the Golden Bears, who won 15 games a year ago.

“I knew I had to step up this year,” DiTonto said. “My teammates, from the back line to the front, gave me the opportunity to score more goals. I wanted to score more than I did last year and my teammates are the ones who can help me through it.”

Lyndhurst boys’ head soccer coach Denis Jelcic knew that DiTonto would be able to handle the load as the team’s leader.

“Vinny is a quiet leader,” Jelcic said. “He’s a great athlete who gives 150 percent every single day. He hustles every day in practice. He’s the ultimate athlete. He doesn’t have to say much as a leader. He lets his actions speak for him. He just loves playing soccer.”

But Jelcic could have never predicted the start that his standout forward would enjoy.

“We expect him to score,” Jelcic said. “Maybe that puts some pressure on him, but he puts a lot of pressure on himself. Like every other teenaged kid, he wants to score every time the ball gets to his foot.”

Four games into the new season, DiTonto has been a scoring machine. He has eight goals in the four games, including a four-goal explosion against Leonia.

“I was very excited,” DiTonto said. “It’s a great way to start the season. I just have to keep it up.”

DiTonto also had two goals against Bergen Charter and one goal in both of the Golden Bears’ wins over McNair Academic and Dwight-Englewood. The Golden Bears have won all four games, thanks to DiTonto’s goal-scoring prowess.

“I just have to be at the right place at the right time,” DiTonto said. “I am just doing my job. It’s very good for me and the team, but we have to keep it going.”

DiTonto’s eight goal stint in four games has earned him the distinction of being The Observer Athlete of the Week for the past week. DiTonto is the first honoree of the 2016-2017 scholastic sports season. The weekly feature culminates in June with the selection of the Observer Male and Female Athletes of the Year.

Jelcic just loves what DiTonto brings to his team.

“I wish I had five more like him,” Jelcic said. “He just loves playing the game. He’s very unassuming and doesn’t expect anything. He’s around the ball all the time. He is scoring by being quick. He gets the ball to his chest and then his foot so quickly. He’s also in great shape.”

Jelcic said that he remembers when DiTonto arrived three seasons ago as a freshman.

“I remember he scored coming right out of the gate,” Jelcic said. “He had like two or three chances and knocked one in. I told him that he had to watch now, because the seniors were going to knock him around.”

“I remember talking with my coach and he reminded me that if I scored more goals, then people would want to try to stop me and mark me,” DiTonto said. “They’ll foul me hard. I had to be prepared for it. I think it will open up chances for other scorers if teams are marking me closely.”

So DiTonto is well on his way to topping last year’s goal scoring mark.

“I have to be able to keep it going,” DiTonto said.

DiTonto hopes that his scoring outburst might draw attention from the local college soccer coaches.

“I would love to play in college,” DiTonto said. “I would love to be like Giana. Hopefully, I can get there.”

Last Saturday night, after defeating Dwight-Englewood earlier in the day, DiTonto went to the Lyndhurst Recreation Facility to watch his sister play with her Felician teammates (and former Lyndhurst teammates Amanda Nowak, Joanna Arvanitakis and Dina Ingenito) against Georgian Court in their first home match of the season.

“It’s a different level when I watch her,” DiTonto said. “It’s fun to watch.”

Just like Jelcic has fun watching his striker score eight goals in a week.

“It’s a great soccer family that loves the game,” Jelcic said. “It’s just the way they were brought up.”

They obviously were raised the right way.

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Jim Hague | Observer Sports Writer

Sports Writer Jim Hague was with The Observer for 20+ years — and his name is one of the most recognizable in all of sports journalism. The St. Peter’s Prep and Marquette alum kicked off his journalism career post Marquette at the Daily Record, where he remained until 1985. Following shorts stints at two other newspapers, in September 1986, he joined the now-closed Hudson Dispatch, where he remained until 1991, when its doors were finally shut.

It was during his tenure at The Dispatch that Hague’s name and reputation as one of country’s hardest-working sports reporters grew. He won several New Jersey Press Association and North Jersey Press Club Awards in that timeframe.

In 1991, he became a columnist for The Hudson Reporter chain of newspapers — and he remains with them to this day.

In addition to his work at The Observer and The Hudson Reporter, Hague is also an Associated Press stringer, where he covers Seton Hall University men’s basketball, New York Red Bulls soccer and occasionally, New Jersey Devils hockey.

He’s also doing work at The Morristown Daily Record, the very newspaper where his journalism career began.

During his career, he also worked for Dorf Feature Services, which provided material for the Star-Ledger. While there, he covered the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets.

Hague is also known for his announcing work — and he’s done PA work for Rutgers Newark and NJIT.

Hague is the author of the book “Braddock: The Rise of the Cinderella Man.”