When Jim Ventriglia came back to the Marlboro boys’ soccer team, the program was in disarray.

He coached the team for about a half-decade and made a sectional contender out of them, even winning the school’s first title in 2021.

He left it in far better condition than he found it as Dan Rossi begins his first season on the sidelines for the Iron Dukes.

After a down year in 2022 coming off their championship, the Iron Dukes rebounded with a 12-4 record last year before losing in the Section 9 Class A semifinals to the Beacon, Bulldogs, the eventual champions.

The Iron Dukes have lost Chris Hagar, Connor Baxter, Gustavo Lopez, Carson Palmer, and longtime goalkeeper Alex McAteer from last year’s team, but return Jake Brown, Brady Felker, Alex Vargas, Tyler Schmidt.

“With a strong group of seniors, we would like to make some noise this season and have a deep run in sectionals,” Rossi said. “We would also like to win the division and compete in the Mid Hudson Athletic League tournament.”

Matt Bogaczyk, Chris Broderick, and Jesus Cedial are new to the team this year.

The Iron Dukes were scheduled to open the season on Tuesday against the 2023 Section 9 Class A runners-up, the Our Lady of Lourdes Warriors.

They will host the Highland Huskies on Saturday night in the annual Salute to Service game. All local military, first responders and families are invited to commemorate the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

There will be a pregame ceremony at 5:30 p.m. with the game starting at 6 p.m. at Pat Burkett Field. There will also be a ceremony at halftime.

“We have a strong group this year with a lot of leadership,” Rossi said. “With the amount of versatile players, we should be able to put different guys in different places to really compete with different opponents.”