BOYS SOCCER: Hightstown held the Spartans scoreless until a defensive lapse in the final seconds of a 1-0 overtime loss last week.
By: Neil Hay
99 minutes, 30 seconds.
That is how long the Hightstown High School boys’ soccer team kept visiting Steinert scoreless last Friday in the season opener for both teams.
But a defensive lapse in the waning moments of the second overtime session gave the Spartans a 1-0 victory and extended Steinert’s mastery over Hightstown for another year.
In the past the Rams belonged to the CVC Colonial Division, and these teams would meet twice every year. And, for the past several years, the Spartans won both home and away. Now that Hightstown is in the Valley Division, the schools meet just once in the regular season. With last week’s loss, and barring some future tournament matchup, the Rams will have to wait until 2002 for another shot at Steinert.
According to co-head coach John Mariano the Rams did not play to their potential. Imagine: not playing their best and extending Steinert to double overtime, and still losing by one goal. If there was one game when a coach would be happy with a tie, this was it.
"It was extremely frustrating," said Mariano.
The Rams actually had two good scoring opportunities in the first half, but were unable to finish the play. Said Mariano, "We played the first half about half way to our potential against a very good team. We gave the ball away a lot and it was still scoreless at the half. That is what we talked about at halftime."
Despite the pep talk, the Rams were less effective in the second half than in the first. More of the play was in the Rams’ defensive end. Steinert missed a good chance when they hit the crossbar. And still it was 0-0 after regulation.
"I didn’t think we stepped up in the second half," recalled Mariano.
The Rams, who were outshot 17-8 in the contest, failed to convert on another solid scoring opportunity in the first overtime. In the second overtime, with about two minutes to play, the Rams were called for a hand ball in the box. Up stepped Hightstown goalie Jon Golden (15 saves) to make the save on the penalty shot.
"That was huge. A big, big stop," said Mariano.
With the seconds ticking away Mariano is looking at a 0-0 final, one which he would be more than happy to accept. When team records are submitted for the state tournament next month, a tie would look much better than a loss.
"We have to say, ‘Let’s get out of here with a tie. Don’t give the game away’."
Alas, it was not to be. Said Mariano, "They had a big mental breakdown."
Despite the urgings of sweeper Brandon Lugannani ("He had a strong game"), the three Hightstown fullbacks were caught on the wrong side of the field. With a quick pass up field Steinert has a 3-on-1 on Golden. You know the rest.
"It should never have happened. I do not know why the fullbacks were caught up field.
"It was a very difficult loss," continued Mariano. "It would have been a major, big time plus to come out with a tie.
"I am real proud of the kids and the way they played. They played fairly well. There were a lot of positives."
The reviews were not so glowing, but the final result much more favorable, as the visiting Rams edged host Nottingham, 2-1, Wednesday.
Joe DiCrecchio accounted for both Hightstown goals, each in the second half. About ten minutes in David Novack’s pass was converted into the Northstars’ net for a 1-0 lead. Three minutes later, however, Nottingham evened the score at 1-1.
With about 12 minutes remaining DiCrecchio stuck again, banging home a pass from Oscar Moreno.
There was still plenty of time left, so the Rams went into a defensive posture to keep Nottingham at bay. As co-head coach Dominic Mastroianni put it, "We loaded up the defense and it worked out."
Golden, the Rams’ netminder, was just that. Said Mastroianni, "He made 15 beautiful saves. He saved our tails many times." Especially in the first half, when 30 to 35 minutes were played in the Hightstown defensive end.
"I’ve had sixth grade phys ed classes play better soccer," critiqued Mastroianni. "We made every blunder. It was just atrocious. If it wasn’t for Jon, it would have been 5-0 at the half."
The Rams, outshot for the game by a 25 to 12 margin, played "a lot better" in the second half. Hightstown spent as much time in the Northstars’ end, as did Nottingham in the Rams’ end. Still, the visitors had plenty of good scoring chances.
"Our defense did not do anything outstanding," said Mastroianni. "There’s lots of room for improvement.
"On offense we worked a lot better. Joe made some nice moves and some nice shots. Novack and Moreno gave him nice leads. We used different combinations, especially at midfield, to see which group would click."
Mastroianni offered this final assessment of a coach who escaped with a win when a loss seemed imminent.
"Nottingham is better than us and they outplayed us. They were more aggressive. We were lucky to win. We didn’t play to our potential, we played about one-third as good as we played against Steinert."

