MTHS gets rid of Raider jitters en route to county finals

By: David Gurney
   According to Monroe Township high school boys soccer coach Steve McKenzie, something happens to his team when it plays North Brunswick.
   Something overcomes them, the swagger disappears, they become a ‘deer caught in headlights.’
   Well, something happened to his team on Sunday when it met their bugaboo in the GMCT semifinals. They played with a swagger, a confidence. They played like themselves.
   Guided by two goals by senior forward Frank Carr, Monroe steamrolled past North Brunswick, 4-0, to advance to the county finals where they will meet Red Division foe St. Joseph’s on Sunday, a 3-0 winner over South Brunswick.
   The Falcons also used a four-goal barrage to defeat Monmouth Regional in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III tournament, 4-0, at home on Tuesday. As a result, Monroe (18-4) will take on No. 4 Ocean Township High School today (Friday) at 2 p.m. in the sectional semifinals.
   "This has been a huge week for us, the win over North Brunswick was big," Monroe head coach Steve McKenzie said. "We tried to keep our focus on winning the semifinal game. Beating North Brunswick and moving back into the finals."
   Moving into the finals proved to be easier than anticipated, considering the fact Monroe had lost both contests against the Raiders this year, each by a goal.
   Factor in last year’s GMCT championship loss to North Brunswick, half of Monroe’s last six losses, dating back to the end of last year, have come against the Raiders.
   However, this game was different from the onset.
   Playing on their home field turf, Monroe had the better of play early, controlling possession against a complacent Raiders squad without starting goalie Justin Smith, who wasn’t cleared to play until getting his knee brace in the second half.
   A yellow-red card was given to North Brunswick defender Matt Southgate at the 12 minute mark and changed the complexion of the game, taking NB’s top defender out of the contest and opening the door for Monroe forwards Carr and junior Ivan Barreto.
   At the 19-minute mark, Barreto dribbled into NB territory down the center of the field before getting tripped. The referees played advantage, as Barreto held onto the ball.
   The ball caromed away from Barreto onto the feet of the speedy Carr, who held off the defense and flicked it past the goalie for the 1-0 lead.
   "I just saw the ball coming and ran onto it," Carr said. "I felt the man on my back and knew I couldn’t cut it to my dominant foot. We talk about the importance of scoring in the first 20 and it just opened the game up."
   The floodgates opened, in fact, with the Falcons tacking on two more before the end of the first half. Barreto corralled midfielder Sean Lawrence’s flick and pushed it past the keeper for the second goal and midfielder Spencer Lawrence’s cross to Carr was headed in for the third with just under two minutes to go to make it 3-0 going into halftime.
   "It’s just a matter of us scoring and putting away our chances," McKenzie said. "The games we lost to North Brunswick before this, we played well, but couldn’t finish."
   Smith entered the game for NB with 30 minutes left, but that was after Sean Lawrence’s goal made it 4-0 in favor of Monroe.
   The county’s leading scorer, NB forward Ibrahim Kamara (27 goals), was literally blanketed and shut down by the Monroe defense.
   "Me and Zach have seen him (Ibrahim) a lot during the season and club, so we know what he’s about," said senior defender Dale Santiago, who had the task of keeping Kamara in check most of the game. "We just tried to keep the play in front of us and be physical with him, because he’ll bring the physical to you."
   In the victory over Monmouth Regional, Barreto, Sean Lawrence, Garret Beyer and Derek Kulper tallied goals, while Zach Theinert recorded two assists.
   Goalie Mike Rettberg was able to make seven saves to preserve his second consecutive shutout.
   In the past four games, all victories, Monroe has outscored its opponents, 20-3.