Pirate boys win one the hard way

WW-P South goes to shootout for win

By: Bob Nuse
   When a state tournament soccer game goes into a shootout, it’s tough on a lot of people.
   It’s tough on the goalie, who has to come up with that one big save. It’s tough on the shooters, who don’t want to be the one guy who misses and leaves an opening for the other team. And it’s tough on defenders, who after having played a solid game for 100 minutes, are left with nothing to do but watch and hope for the best.
   After playing to a 1-1 tie with South Brunswick in Tuesday’s opening round game of the Central Jersey Group IV tournament, the Pirates connected on all five of their penalty kicks and got one big save from Max Stember-Young to earn a 5-4 shootout win.
   With the win, the Pirates advanced to the CJ IV quarterfinals, where they will host Hillsborough today at 2 p.m.
   "It’s frustrating because we’ve gone to a shootout in the first round of the state tournament three years in a row, and this is the first one we’ve won," said West Windsor-Plainsboro South’s Zac Howes, who did get a chance to shoot in the shootout, connecting on his chance. "The last two years we lost and it’s a tough way to lose in the state tournament. Even after they tied it we felt like we had some good chances to win it in overtime, but we just couldn’t get that one goal we needed.
   "But we had confidence that Max would come up big. He’s stopped penalty kicks before, like in our win over North. So we had confidence that he would get a save for us on one of the shots."
   South sweeper Glen Stuart didn’t get a chance to shoot on Tuesday. Like so many of his teammates, he was an observer as the outcome held in the balance. And after having played such a key role in the game’s first 100 minutes, just watching isn’t easy.
   "I had a tremendous amount of faith in Max," Stuart said. "He’s come through for us in big situations all year. One save was all we needed. We know that Max will come through. It’s tough to just watch, but you have to have faith in your goalie and in the guys that are shooting for you."
   WW-P South broke a scoreless tie with Keisuke Murata scored with just over 24 minutes left in the second half. That score stood up until the visiting Vikings scored with just under two minutes left to draw even.
   "I never thought that they would score," Stuart said. "But they had a nicely played free kick and you have to give them credit because it was a good goal. We were not as organized as we should have been and they took advantage of that and they were able to score a goal and send it into overtime.
   "I thought we had a pretty good game on defense. We were using a lot of guys and they came through. Donny Miller, Eric Voigtsberger, Ali Reisch off the bench. He’s a big body and he played well."
   In the shootout, each team connected on its first four shots, with Chris Wesson, Wes Tuck, Brian Solteau and Howes scoring for the Pirates. After Stember-Young came up with a save on South Brunswick’s fifth kick, Eric Voigtsberger knocked in the winning shot for the Pirates.
   "After it was over I turned to South Brunswick and told them it should be decided on the field," South coach Brian Welsh said. "It’s not a good system, but I don’t know what other system you use. There has to be a better way to decide a game.
   "I was not pleased by the way we played. I don’t think we played good, solid soccer. I thought South Brunswick did a nice job disrupting our rhythm. The ball was up in the air too much and we just didn’t play well."
   But once the game did go to a shootout, Welsh was confident his team’s fortunes would turn out better than they have the last two years.
   "I had complete faith in Max," said Welsh, whose team improved to 13-2-2 with the win. "And not just for the penalty kicks. Last year I had him take a penalty kick for us in the state tournament because he’s one of the best we have. But you really need to focus all of your energy in one area and you can’t do both. He’s a kid that thrives in these kinds of situations. I wasn’t worried about Max at all.
   "I have faith in Max and our defense. The problem for us is that we can’t score. We create chances, but we need to finish. We get chances and we don’t finish. And then as the game goes on we start to lose confidence."
   But if the Pirates do get a goal, chances are the defense will hold up and get them a win. But scoring early would certainly make it easier.
   "This team is geared up for a run, if we can get into a rhythm," Welsh said.