Pirates, Ravens soccer teams stalemate for brother coaches
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
While the players and coaches weren’t quite sure what to think, nobody was happier than Mckenna Fisher when the West Windor-Plainsboro South and Robbinsville boys soccer teams played to a 1-1 tie on Tuesday.
”She said to me last night, ‘Daddy, why do brothers have to play each other, I don’t get it,’” said WW-P South coach Bryan Fisher, whose brother Jeff is the head coach at Robbinsville. “I said, ‘well, we have to’. And she said, ‘I want you to tie because I love you both.’ So she got her wish.”
The two teams played in what was dubbed ‘Fish Bowl 2’ as the brothers coached against each other for the second time. In addition, the game was a fundraiser to raise awareness and money in the fight against Multiple System Atrophy, which claimed the life of the Fishers’ uncle, Donald Manly, in June.
”It was an exciting game and it was just great to have the family out here and my Aunt Kathy out here from Ohio,” Bryan Fisher said. “It was a fun night. I am glad the community came out. We were able to raise over $1,500 for a great cause.”
The game was an entertaining one that managed to end with the result young Mckenna Fisher hoped for. After Arnav Vast scored early in the game to give the Ravens the lead, the Pirates drew even when Akul Agarwal scored off an assist from Kendall Reid. The game stayed tied in large part due to a fantastic save off a penalty kick by South goalkeeper Luke Balestrieri.
”I don’t like ties, I like to win,” said Jeff Fisher, who is in his first full season as Robbinsville’s coach. “But it was a great night and great to see the people come out and support a great cause. We had a lot of opportunities in overtime and late in the second half. Their goalie made a nice save on a PK. You can’t say we didn’t have chances. They had chances.”
Late in the first overtime it looked like the Ravens might pull out a win, but Balestrieri made a diving save to his left on a penalty kick to keep the Pirates alive.
”Luke made a great play,” Bryan Fisher said. “That is a big-time play in overtime. That was a big moment. He’ll always remember that. (Robbinsville) played really hard. I thought they probably deserved a little better result there in overtime. But my guys fought hard after giving up a goal.
”We settled in and did some good stuff. We came out in the second half and looked like we wanted to score and that was why we were rewarded.”
The Pirates, who are now 5-9-2, open play in the Mercer County Tournament today with another rivalry game as they face WW-P North in the opening round. They will head into that game after playing at a high level against the Ravens.
”It was one of those games where both teams are evenly matched,” Pirates senior co-captain Rodrigo Trevino said of the tie. “We were just going at each other. At one point a team has control of the game and in a split second the other team takes control.
”Even though we didn’t get the result we wanted, I think we really played our hearts out and we never gave up. That is something we can take into Friday’s game against North. Our record does not define our team at all. We’ve had a lot of close losses.”
In the end, there was no winner or loser, but the night turned out just fine.
”Regarding the cause and what we’re playing for, it is a great tie,” Trevino said. “I hope we put a good game out for the people who came out to support not just the soccer teams, but MSA.”