By: Sean Moylan
The talented, young Florence Township Memorial High boys’ varsity tennis team’s quest for a third consecutive Central Jersey Group 1 title ended with a very tough 3-2 loss to Middlesex (seeded 1) on Monday afternoon at South Brunswick High School.
The match came down to third singles, as Middlesex’s Andrew Marshie outlasted Ben Pinter in a marathon 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) classic match.
"He (Pinter) did great but at the end of the match he almost collapsed, he was so tired. He had no energy left," said Florence head coach Ovi Dragos, whose third singles star had won a big Mercer County League match a day earlier and played Monday’s tie break on pure adrenaline and heart. "It was hot and it was hard to play. Ben played awesome. He was up two match points and 4-3 in the tie break."
Usually Milo Milosovici blows away most of his second singles opponents. However, Milosovici had to play great tennis to defeat Middlesex’s Tom O’Brien 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 6-1.
"That guy (O’Brien) was good," said Dragos, who was pleased to see Milosovici win a tough match.
At second doubles, Florence’s Nick Bencze and Usman Huq posted an easy 6-1, 6-2 victory over Pat Gorman and Greg Marher. Unfortunately, Middlesex’s Edgar Rentaria and Rob Brasile won a close 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 decision against Josh Partyka and Russell Molimock at first doubles.
"Josh Partyka played awesome," said Dragos, who also felt Molimock also played a strong first set. Middlesex had a very talented first singles player in Matt Simcha, who edged Joe Molimock 6-4, 6-3.
"I feel sorry for my kids because we had this match in hand," said Dragos. "I’m really proud of the way the kids fought."
Dragos, who scouted Middlesex, knew it would be a close match. But he thought his team would win 3-2. It nearly did.
Florence had reached the Central Jersey Group I finals by creaming South River 4-1 at Burlington Township (Florence’s home away from home) last Thursday.
J. Molimock won a crucial 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) see-saw decision over South River’s Danny Andre at the number one singles. Molimock had a lead in the first set but lost it, but then he showed his toughness in the final set as he erased a 5-4 deficit to triumph in a tie-breaker.
At second singles, Milosovici breezed to a 6-1, 6-2 win over South River’s Zohaid Iqbal.
"I knew what it was going to be like," said Dragos, who knew that Iqbal had no way of counteracting Milosovici’s raw power.
At third singles, Pinter beat South River’s Hiren Shah 6-1, 6-4.
Florence’s fourth win came at second doubles, where Huq and Bencze beat Greg Rolack and Chris Gomez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
"Usman (Huq) played an awesome match and he really pumped up Nick (Bencze)," Dragos remarked.
And although South River’s Jan Jurdo and Pete Koutsopias topped Partyka and Hans Lopez (first doubles) 7-6 (9-7), 0-6, 6-1, a lot of good came out of that match too.
"My kids (Partyka and Lopez) were down 5-1 in the first set and 5-1 in the first set tie-breaker and they came back. Josh Partyka played unbelievably well," said Dragos, whose first doubles tandem won 11 straight at one point.
With only one returning senior, Florence was still just one shot away from winning another championship. But that’s a credit to all the extra hours of practice the team puts in. Few, if any, New Jersey high school tennis teams work harder than Florence, which has a 13-3 record under Dragos, one of South Jersey’s best tennis coaches.
Florence is scheduled to play Cinnaminson on the road on Friday (the date of that contest may have been changed to as early as yesterday). If the Flashes beat the Pirates they will win the Freedom Division.
