MacKenzie’s club player kills Falcons in GMCT

By: Carolyn M. Hartko
   NORTH BRUNSWICK – Take two high school boys’ soccer teams, each with a top-notch striker and a remarkable goalie, add solid supporting casts and a free-flowing style of play, and the result is the kind of game seen at Steve Libro Stadium this past Sunday.
   The clash for the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament Championship between the top-seeded North Brunswick Raiders and the 2nd seeded Monroe Township High School Falcons kept everyone guessing until the final whistle, when North walked off the field with their fifth county title, and the second in a row.
   The difference came in the 48th minute of regulation when Raider Ibrahim Kamara scored his 19th goal of the 2005 season, giving his team a 1-0 edge. The play started with a punt by Raider keeper Danny Peragallo, and a short header by midfielder Scott Cameron that redirected the ball to Kamara.
   Knowing how dangerous Kamara is inside the box, Falcon keeper Cory Notaro tried to anticipate the shot, coming off his line aggressively. While that worked twice in the first half, thanks to the backup coverage by defender Dale Santiago, Kamara was able to finish this attack with a ground ball inside the far left post.
   "Cory was a little anxious," Falcon head coach Steve MacKenzie said. "He probably left his goal a little prematurely sometimes, and that led to those opportunities. (North Brunswick) really didn’t have many opportunities. It was just that Cory was out. But we did a great job from 18 to 18 defensively."
   MacKenzie is well aware of the Raider sophomore’s capabilities, as he coaches Kamara on a local club team, the Jersey Knights.
   "We knew we had to contain Ib," the coach said. "We knew he could attack on different fronts, because he’s a strong kid. We couldn’t have any mistakes, and that’s how they scored, on the one mistake. It wasn’t even a matter of him beating us. It was a slip, and we knew we needed to be careful of that."
   Santiago, a junior who has played defense for most of his soccer career, starting with rec teams as a youngster, had a knack for showing up on the line whenever Notaro was out of the goal.
   "It’s just instinct," Santiago said. "When the goalie’s out, you look and run straight back to the goal. You’re not thinking about anything else besides getting back to that line. We knew we had to play tough in transition. They just had an unlucky goal right there in transition, with a header, and they scored."
   Monroe had several good chances to score. Midway through the first half, a header by Frank Carr after a corner kick was expertly handled by Peragallo. Ten minutes later, Zach Theinert banged a direct free kick off the cross bar. In the second half, top scorer Justin Miller hit the left upright, and Carr was denied again on a close shot.
   "They did a great job defensively as well," MacKenzie said. "It was just a battle, and with the field conditions, we knew we couldn’t take the chance of knocking the ball around, and then countering. So, we had to get the ball forward a little bit more than maybe we would have like in certain situations."
   The Falcons, the GMC White Division Champions, closed out 2005 at 20-3. North Brunswick (Red Division Champions) improved to 18-1, before falling to Shawnee on Tuesday night in the NJSIAA Group IV semifinals.
   The Falcons missed out on two titles this fall, both times by a single goal. As the only defender expected to return next year, Santiago hopes the disappointment turns into motivation.
   "We’re going to be working very hard," the junior said. "It’s going to be upsetting, losing all of the seniors – we’re a very close team. But we need to regroup and just look forward to next season."
   THROW-INS: North Brunswick had a slight edge in shots on goal (8-7) and Notaro and Peragallo each made six saves in an outstanding game.