BRHS boys’ soccer edged in C.J. Group II semis

Steinman scores winner in opener

By: Sean Moylan
   Mike Brennan had a feeling that Willie Steinman would score a goal in last Friday’s Central Jersey Group II playoff game at Northern Community Park.
   But before Bordentown High’s successful boys’ soccer coach could officially change his middle name to Nostradamus with his Scotties 1-0 win over the New Providence Pioneers, Steinman would need to survive a battle of hard knocks and hard hits.
   On the very first play of the contest, the Scotties’ muscular senior forward was clobbered going up the middle. But he just got up and smiled, knowing there would be no whistle.
   "Of course I’m a target, but I’m comfortable with that. I love anything that helps the team," said Steinman, who loves physical play. After a scoreless first half, Steinman really helped his team by scoring a powerful goal from the 18, eight minutes and 13 seconds into the second stanza.
   "The goal was a botched play. When Dean (Kreiser) took it around the (left) end, it poked through to my foot and I got a good turn on it and I ripped a hot shot. They had no one back there. Once you get past the stopper, you have time to bury it," Steinman said.
   While Brennan was pleased to see Steinman score he was happy with his game as a whole and he commented," Willie picked a great day to have a tremendous finish. He hasn’t been scoring as much for us this year but we’ve asked him to do different things. We’ve been asking him to check back to the ball and play the ball back to the midfield."
   As a whole the Scotties play a beautiful brand of soccer where each player has multiple responsibilities designed to keep the other team from scoring. Furthermore, with great defense they usually will create enough chances to get some goals. But with the field conditions last Friday, it did allow for more "blood and guts" soccer.
   "I think we won that game with heart today (Friday) and physical play. The field was a little sloppy because we got a lot of rain this past weekend which allowed for some good, hard, physical play because you couldn’t really get the ball under control for much of the day," added Brennan.
   No player benefited from the field conditions more than Cory Mahoney, who controlled the midfield with one dazzling play after another.
   "It was tough. Those kids were running around a lot and I got kicked in the legs a bunch of times," said Mahoney.
   During one sequence in the second half, Mahoney ran over to cover the right side of the field where he promptly was booted in the thigh while going for a ball. But the whistle went against him. Instead of griping about it to the official, he just chased the ball down and made another good play.
   "Cory will give you everything he has. Every game he ever plays, he runs and runs and runs. He does everything hard. He’ll never try to finesse you. He’ll let you know he’s there and remind you every time you come near him," said Brennan.
   In the second half, Brennan kept coming with great substitutions. Kreiser started up top and did a nice job but when he got a little tired and banged up, Eric Bijou replaced him and also played well. Frank Korosec also gave the Scotties some good minutes. After Steinman’s goal Bordentown played in more of a defensive mode to protect its lead, which led to more chances by New Providence, which came in as a sixth seed.
   Steinman, now playing a little defense, made a nice clear and Kenny Eckelmann headed a dangerous ball out of the box to save the Scotties. As soon as his team took the lead, Jesse Harrison took over and made sure it didn’t lose it.
   "Jesse drives the car. He runs the steering wheel, the gas and the breaks. He runs the tempo of the game," said Brennan, of Harrison, the Scotties’ top scorer who takes all their free kicks.
   In the first half, Nick Sommo made a very good save on a pretty free kick by Harrison. Two Scotties faked hitting the ball before Harrison finally booted it.
   "We’ve been practicing all kinds of shots for that," added Harrison. "In the playoffs if you lose you’re out. So you play every game as hard as you can."
   That kind of mentality is the reason Bordentown nearly won a state title last year. This year no one has shown greater mental toughness than goalie C.J. Dixon, who added to his school record with the Scotties’ 13th shutout of the season. For the most part, most of the nine saves, Dixon made on Friday were on nothing dribblers, barely on goal.
   But he did make a spectacular diving save in the first half to keep New Providence off the scoreboard.
   "The kid took it all the way to the line and I figured he had to cross it, that was the only choice. So I dove out and did what I could to get a finger on it. And luckily I got a little bit of it," said Dixon, who is probably the best goalie in Burlington County. Dixon also made a brilliant save on a free kick.
   Bordentown took 11 shots, but a few were off line. The Scotties could have had more shots but they didn’t try to push up in the second half. Steve "Turbo" Turgyan also had a strong first half.
   During the first 15 minutes of the first stanza, we were able to glimpse into the Scotties’ great future as freshman D.J. Kafer put on a dribble and passing exhibition on the right wing.
   "D.J.Kafer has been running the flank well for us all year. He is an absolute workhorse. He can get the job done up and down the flank," said Brennan.
   "I think Jesse Harrison really loved having him out there out there because when he wins a ball, he can turn and blindly play the ball to the flank and he knows D.J is going to be there."
   Trust was the primary reason the Scotties were so successful this season. They believed in a brilliant unselfish "no frills" system, which favored wins over goals. They play the way teams are supposed to play, but rarely do.