BOYS SOCCER
By: Tim Falls
The Lawrence High School boys varsity soccer team didn’t have practice on Wednesday.
They didn’t need to.
The Cardinals worked extra hard in an overtime win against West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Tuesday.
Junior Justin DeMarco scored the game-winner in the final five seconds of play at the end of the second overtime period to put Lawrence past WW-P South, 2-1.
"It was a great win," said Lawrence coach Keith Fithen. "Because of states it was an important win."
The Cardinals improved to 6-4 with four games left until the NJSIAA cutoff after winning six out of their last seven games.
"Before the game coach Fithen told us we need to win two out of the next five games," said junior Brian Pillsbury, who tied the game for Lawrence at the end of the first half. "Winning and only needing one of the next four games takes a lot of pressure off our shoulders, but we’re still going to try and win all of them."
The victory over the Pirates left Lawrence one win away from clinching a berth in the state tournament. To qualify teams need a .500 record by the cutoff and as long as Lawrence doesn’t lose all four of its games, against Princeton, Ewing, WW-P North and Hopewell Valley, the Cardinals can make the cut.
With the team’s record and making states in mind, Fithen was ready to settle for a tie against WW-P South, a team that the Cardinals haven’t beaten in several years.
Instead of staying overly cautious, Fithen listened to DeMarco and went for the win.
"I didn’t want to get too aggressive and give up a goal on the counterattack," said Fithen. "Justin told me to go for it, he really wanted the win."
As seconds ticked down in the final minute, the ball crossed the field and put Lawrence back on the offensive. With 10 seconds left and Fithen shouting for the Cardinals to hurry on a throw-in near the Pirate’s net, senior Jason Zegarski found DeMarco charging toward goal and provided a game-winning assist for the third straight game.
The ball bounced at DeMarco’s feet and with the score keeper calling off the final seconds the Lawrence junior punched in the game-winner.
"I didn’t even hear her," said DeMarco of the countdown. "I just knew I had to put it in."
"He was hungry for it," said Fithen, "it was his third chance."
DeMarco nearly notched the game-winner earlier in the second overtime period on another throw-in where he beat a Pirate defender and went one-on-one aginst WW-P South’s goalie Chris Herte. Only his shot sliced away from the far post and went wide.
"I wanted that win," said DeMarco. "I knew we could get it. I had to put one in eventually. It was my third try."
WW-P South got the go-ahead goal early in the game and forced Fithen to change his formation to generate more offense and better contain the Pirates.
It allowed Pillsbury to tie the game with a goal in the final two minutes of the first half.
"That was key," said Fithen. "It wasn’t 1-0 at the half, we weren’t down."
"It kept us in the game," said Pillsbury. "It gave us hope that we could win."
On the other end of the field senior goalie Dave Schindewolf made several clutch saves, at times just barely deflecting shots away, and shut out the Pirates for the remainder of the game. Schindewolf had 12 saves, while WW-P South led in shots, 18-12.
The dramatic last-second win overtime win followed a 1-0 overtime victory over Hamilton for Lawrence’s third straight shutout victory on Saturday.
Bobby Hallowell headed in the goal against the Hornets off assists from Jose Mendiola and Zegarski in the first overtime period.
Zegarski helped Hallowell gain the game-winner in a 1-0 victory over Allentown last Thursday.

