Golden goal with nine seconds left in OT burns Monroe
By: Carolyn M. Hartko
The blood on the shoulder of Frank Carr’s home jersey, plus the dazed look on his face, summed up the results of Friday’s NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III boys soccer game.
The top seeded Falcons (20-3) played their hearts out, but lost 2-1 when 2nd seeded Hopewell Valley (17-2-3) knocked in a golden goal with five seconds left in the first overtime period. So the game ended as it had begun, with the Bulldogs scoring a goal so quickly that the Falcons hardly knew what hit them.
"We were just unlucky," Falcon head coach Steve MacKenzie said. "The bottom line is sometimes that happens. We got a little lucky with the shootout in the GMC’s, and here we got unlucky. We could have easily won. Not that we’re better, but this game we could have won in regulation."
The Bulldogs were able to take advantage of a miscue in the Falcon defense just a minute into the game. Brian Kuppe stripped the ball, and sent it into an open net.
In spite of the psychological disadvantage that early goal caused, the Falcons pulled themselves together, and kept going on the attack. Midway through the first half, they thought they had the equalizer, but in the middle of a crowd scene in front of Hopewell’s net, Chris Faroane’s would-be goal was ruled offsides. With six minutes left in the period, midfielder Brendan Sebastian set Justin Miller up for a break-away. The senior striker sent a perfect chip shot over Bulldog keeper A. J. Juliano to knot the score at 1-1.
The second half turned into the battle of the goalies. Ten minutes in, Falcon Cory Notaro saved a certain goal, punching a high ball over the net. With less than seven minutes left in regulation, Juliano made a spectacular double save, denying Faroane again.
"The wind died in the second half, so we didn’t have much of an advantage," MacKenzie said. "The first half, the wind was strong, so we needed to slow the ball a little bit more. Instead, we were going forward too fast, and it got sloppy. The second half, we played better."
The best chance for a score in the second half came in the 51st minute when Juliano was drawn way out to his left where he collided with a teammate. With the net wide open, the Falcons got a few shots off, but they were all blocked by Bulldog defenders.
During the first 10-minute sudden death overtime, luck again went against Monroe. Six minutes in, Miller sent a long shot in that bounced off the left upright, and back out onto the field. Instead, with five seconds left on the official’s watch, it was Hopewell’s Adam Leetsma who knocked in the game winner after a throw-in by Henry Idowou. It was Leetsma’s first goal of the season.
The season is still not over for the Falcons. They will play North Brunswick at Steve Libro Stadium in North Brunswick on Sunday at 2 p.m. for the Greater Middlesex Conference Championship. In spite of the disappointing loss on Friday, MacKenzie is sure he will have no trouble getting his team psyched for the GMCT final.
"It’s another title to shoot for, and we’ve been waiting to play North Brunswick," the coach said. "So, it shouldn’t be too hard to get them up."
THROW-INS: Monroe outshot Hopewell Valley 12-10, and they had one more corner kick (7-6)…Notaro