Red Bank scores in OT to oust MHS from states
By: Carolyn M. Hartko
When the Monroe Township High School boys’ soccer team was eliminated from this year’s county tournament, hopes shifted to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III tourney. The Falcons’ aim was to make a statement in that venue. But this was not Monroe’s year.
Instead, 11th- seeded Red Bank Regional bumped the 3rd-seeded Falcons from the state tournament last Friday with a tie-breaking goal scored four minutes into the second overtime period. The golden goal advanced Red Bank to the semi-finals in CJ III, where it lost to Princeton on Tuesday, and put a cap on Monroe’s season at 13-7-1.
Monroe took an early lead, going up 1-0 on a first half goal scored by John Jensen off an assist from Tyler Chiara. Then the Falcons sat on the one-goal lead, content to play defense for the remainder of that period, and a good portion of the second half.
"That first half could have been two or three to nothing, and then it’s a different game," Falcon head coach Steve MacKenzie said. "Instead, we put a lot of pressure on our backs to play perfect. We just have to score. We had our opportunities. We had a couple of breakaways, or semi-breakaways, where we just didn’t pull the trigger on them for the shot. We’ve got to put those balls away. It seems that the teams that move on, they have the guys that score those goals."
With such a slim margin, the Buccaneers were encouraged to just keep coming. They outshot the Falcons, 9-4, in the first half, and 6-4 in the second. Dalton Carofilis made 11 saves during regulation, including two crucial ones as the first half wound down. First he punched out a direct free kick taken from the left touchline, then plucked a loose ball from a crowd inside the six.
All that effort on the part of Red Bank finally paid off when they notched the equalizer with seven minutes left in regulation. The Falcons came right back two minutes later, going up 2-1. Jensen took a direct free kick about 20 yards up near the right side touchline. Junior defender Tim Seyfried had moved up for the play, and headed the ball inside the far post. It was Seyfried’s second goal of the season.
Unfortunately, the Buccaneers weren’t done. Within two minutes, they had knotted the score again, on a carbon copy of their first goal. Both times, Jose Antonio Paz finished a pass from Ryan Martin.
"The second half, (Red Bank) really picked it up," MacKenzie said. "And once they scored, it gave them new energy. Their energy won them the game."
Both sides picked up their intensity in overtime. Knowing that the first goal would end the game, it was no longer possible for the Falcons to sit back and play defense. They looked for the golden goal, along with Red Bank, but the stalemate held through the first 10-minute overtime period. Four minutes into the second overtime, Buccaneer Michael McEvily scored the game winner.
"Once you get to overtime, it’s basically a break here, a break there," MacKenzie said. "It’s a crap shoot when you get into the overtime. It’s a break here or there for either team. And that’s why it’s so tough if it goes to overtime.
"That was a game we should have put away in the first half. The longer we kept them in, the more confidence they had, and we were just caught on out heels."
For the last few seasons, the Falcons have taken a good record into post season, but been unable to make much headway in the tournaments. Monroe has a tradition of playing solid defense, but they have lacked a creative spark on the attack.
"When it comes to post season, you’ve got to score those goals," MacKenzie said. "If you keep playing games where you’re relying on only holding up one or two goals, eventually, you’re going to find a team that can put the ball in the net. And that’s what’s happened to us the last couple of seasons."