Soccer squad came on strong in second half of year
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The last two games of the season certainly didn’t have the final results the West Windsor-Plainsboro High North boys soccer team was hoping for.
But after a slow start the Knights put together an impressive stretch of games that made the season an overall success.
”We started slow,” WW-P North coach Trevor Warner said after his team was eliminated from the Central Jersey Group IV tournament with a 2-1 loss to South Brunswick on Tuesday. “We were 1-3-1 and then we went on a 9-2 spurt where at one point we won six in a row. We beat Princeton and we beat Lawrence. We had five shutouts in a row. So we really started to play well.
”After we won the Mercer County Tournament first round against Trenton Catholic we played a really tough game against Hightstown, which was the No. 2 seed, and lost 2-1. So we lost the last two games of the season but just prior to that we were playing really well and we were where we wanted to be. Based on our start we turned things around really well.”
And the Knights didn’t go down without a fight against South Brunswick. After falling behind 1-0 early in the second half, North tied the game on a goal by Nana Owusu-Boahan. But the Vikings took the lead with just over 10 minutes left and held on for the win.
”We got the goal and then we had a little life,” said Warner, whose team finished the season 10-7-1. “They had a lot of guys that we had to account for. I don’t think we did a great job with that. I thought we kept their No. 20 (Kyle Goodwin) in check for a while. He had a lot of shots from distance but he never got inside until he scored that second goal to take the lead. I told the guys you can’t have breakdowns in games like this because if you do they make you pay.”
Tipu Shah kept the Knights in the game with some big saves early and finished the game with nine saves in goal.
”Tipu did a real good job to control balls in there,” Warner said. “They are big and he took initiative coming out and grabbing balls up high. We had two of our back four who were hurt for just about the whole second half. The guys that stepped in did a good job. But it is hard when the opposition has so many dangerous players like that. I thought our guys played hard.
”We were reluctant to shoot when we had shots from 18 yards. But then we also gave them too many opportunities. When you do the combination of those two things and then don’t win the midfield battle you really don’t have much of a chance.”
While the North boys were eliminated in the opening round, the Princeton High and Montgomery High boys team both advanced to the sectional quarterfinals.
Montgomery, the No. 7 seed in CJ VI, topped 10th-seeded Colts Neck on penalty kicks. The teams were tied 1-1 after regulation and it stayed that way through overtime. Zach Epstein had scored in regulation for the Cougars. Then in penalty kicks, Connor Yurcisin, Nick Mama, Anid Laoui and Aidan Dinden each scored. Kyle Ballinger had 11 saves in regulation and overtime. The Cougars advanced to face second-seeded Hunterdon Central today.
Princeton, the No. 4 seed in CJ III, topped Neptune, 4-0, as Chase Ealy scored two goals and assisted on another. Kevin Halliday added a goal and an assist, while Dalton Sekelsky had a goal. Laurenz Reimitz made four saves for the shutout. The Little Tigers will host fifth-seeded Hopewell Valley today.
In girls soccer action, Montgomery advanced in CJ IV and Princeton advanced in CJ III. WW-P North was eliminated with a loss in CJ IV.
Montgomery, the defending state champion, opened CJ IV play with a 3-1 win over Colts Neck. Colby Ciarrocca scored twice for the fourth-seeded Cougars, who also received a goal from Colleen Gaffey. Montgomery was scheduled to host fifth-seeded Freehold Boro on Thursday.
WW-P North was the 16th seed in CJ IV and dropped a 4-1 decision to top-seeded Old Bridge. Julia Tampellini scored for the Knights.
Princeton, the No. 3 seed in CJ III, topped Jackson Liberty, 6-0, in the opening round. Shannon Pawlak and Ally Rogers each scored twice for the Little Tigers, while Gabrielle Deitch and Dana Smith also scored. Princeton was scheduled to face 11th-seeded Hightstown on Thursday.