Pennington boys drop semifinal to Mo-Beard

Pennington boys soccer

By: Mike Molaro
   If the Pennington School boys soccer squad had an Achilles’ heel this year, it was its lack of success in the second half of games.
   This drawback proved deadly for the Red Raiders in their 3-2 setback to Morristown Beard in the Prep B state semifinals Nov. 2.
   Fourth- seeded Pennington (7-8-3) held a 2-0 halftime lead, but the top- seeded Crimson scored three unanswered second-half goals to end the Red Raiders’ campaign.
   "We have been ahead at halftime of many games this season," Pennington coach Ed Gauss said. "The second half has killed us.
   "We had a couple of chances. We could’ve been up 3-0 at halftime, but we just missed. There’s a big differences between outside the nets and inside the nets."
   Sophomore forward Jaehyeok Heo, who led the team with 19 goals, and senior defender Alex Abud tallied for the Red Raiders, as freshman midfielder Evan Bruccoleri and sophomore midfielder Brendan Murphy each added an assist. Senior goalies Ryan Heaney (first half) and Andrew Carson(second half) split the goaltending duties.
   Had Pennington scored that elusive third goal, things could’ve been different, and the Red Raiders may have advanced to their second straight appearance in the Prep B title game.
   "I told the guys at halftime that the next goal was pivotal," said Gauss, who completed his second season. "If we made it 3-0, we were in good shape. But if they make it 2-1, the momentum shifts and it’s a new game. Their top scorer broke loose a couple of times in the second half and scored twice.
   "We put in a very good first half. We really dominated and kept the ball in their end."
   Pennington, which fell in the Prep B finals a year ago, was coming off a 15-5 season and feeling good about 2005. Unfortunately, the Red Raiders couldn’t transfer those positive thoughts onto the field on a consistent basis.
   "We had plans this year," Gauss said. "We only lost four seniors and felt we could do some things. We never seemed to have the chemistry we had last year.
   "Last year, we had all the pieces to the puzzle. Nobody stepped up to play the roles we had last year. The chemistry just wasn’t there this year."
   Despite losing 11 seniors, the Red Raiders are optimistically cautious about next season.
   "We have our work cut out for us," Gauss said. "Evan (Bruccoleri) played consistent soccer for us. He was a good addition to the team. (Junior) Derek Parson at sweeper was one of our better players. We will look to these guys next year for leadership.
   "Brendan Murphy played in every game this year. (Sophomore midfielder) Pat Mannix also was very consistent for us. These guys will have to take leadership roles next year."
   Youth will be served for Pennington in 2006, but the Red Raiders are looking forward to the challenge.
   "We have some good eighth graders coming up," Gauss said. "They could help right away. Our middle school team only had one loss.
   "We’ll be young next year. I’m looking forward to working with the guys. We’ll be fine."