September
14, 2004
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| Jonathan Yazzo scored Cliffside's second goal, drilling one inside the post in the 45th minute. | |
TENAFLY -- Last season it was proven to the Cliffside Park boys soccer team that the road to the BCSL-American Division title runs through Tenafly. The Red Raiders could almost smell their first league title since 1991 when they had a two goal lead on Tenafly last October, needing to hang onto the lead for just another 10 minutes to get the win that would have all but wrapped up a division championship.
But the landmark win never came as Tenafly scored twice to get even in regulation and again in overtime to steal the win and the league title before setting off a run that didn't end until the Tigers won the North 1, Group 2 state sectional championship.
So even
though it was just the second game of the season, Cliffside knew what was
at stake when it had the same two-goal advantage to work with late in the
second half on Monday afternoon. And this time, senior goalkeeper Gabe Cortes
steered aside two quality chances in the waning minutes and Cliffside held
on for a 2-0 win, its second in as many games this season.
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| Jason Rohlman had one of two quality chances for Tenalfy in the final 15 minutes. |
"To me this is a big win. I have the utmost respect for (Tenafly head coach Bill Jaeger) and the program he runs. He's got 200 wins, he's won how many league titles and his teams are always well-prepared," said Cliffside Park head coach Jim Fucci, whose team opened its season with a win over Fort Lee, another league title contender. "So to get a win at their place is big for a program like ours and where we want to go. It means a lot."
Cliffside has eight returning starters while Tenafly lost the same amount to graduation and the experience, or lack there of, seemed to play a factor early on. Tenafly (1-1) had a couple of chances in the first five minutes but was unable to get any of them on net and the Raiders cashed one of their first real opportunities into the game's first goal.
Jonathon
Yazzo's run up the right side resulted in a corner kick, which Mario Maggia
sent into the middle of the area. After clearing two Tenafly defenders, Marco
Quevedo got his head to it and found the net for a 1-0 lead.
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| Cosar Taalu was part of the Cliffside Park defense that limited Tenafly to just four shots on goal. |
"The first goal was a corner kick that got inside the 6 and we really should have cleared that ball, but they scored and that really set the tone for them. They went on the attack," said Jaeger, whose team fell to 1-1 after an opening day win over Ridgefield Park. "Early on we had a couple of really good chances and if we had gotten the first goal through maybe that would have carried us a little."
But instead, Cliffside had the better of play for long stretches of the first half, controlling possession and quickly moving forward at every opportunity. Cortes did not get his first touch on the ball until there were less than 10 minutes to play in the first half when he came out to cut off a long through ball.
Cliffside's
speed in the midfield was the difference, leaving the Tenafly attack unable
to put together the combinations that it needed to reach the scoring third.
And when the Tigers got there, Cliffside's senior laden defense cleared away
any trouble. Quevedo and Cosar Taalu, the Raiders' senior fullbacks, were
solid in marking and in starting counter attacks while Ronnie Quiroz was a
force in the midfield, winning just about every ball in the air.
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| Tenafly's Jeremy Kraushar going up for a ball in the midfield. |
"Our midfield is very strong and today we stayed together and played a good game," said Maggia, one of 12 seniors on the Cliffside roster. "We were thinking about that game we lost (to Tenafly last year) for the whole offseason. It cost us the league title and this was a game that we really wanted to win."
Tenafly had a chance at the equalizer late in the first half, but Yoav Yuhjtman's header was wide of the mark and four minutes into half No. 2, Cliffside tacked on to its lead. Yazzo took a feed from Bruno Soares and, from about 12 yards out, he planted one inside the near post.
Tenafly keeper Brett Hirschberg (4 saves) made a nice save on a Yazzo shot to keep Tenafly within shouting distance and the Tigers put together two quality chances in the final 15 minutes. Jason Rohlman ripped one toward the near post, but Cortes used both fists to punch it away. In the 67th minute, Tomo Hongo shot one toward the wide side, but Cortes sprawled to his left and pulled it in without a bobble.
"You
just have to keep your focus, especially when you do have a lot of work early
in the game," said Cortes, who has taken over in net for Steve Jano, a first
team all league keeper last season. "I just try to help the defense stay together
and when I get a chance, I want to get to every ball that I can."
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| Cliffside keeper Gabe Cortes made two big saves late in the game to keep his shutout in tact. |
Tenafly's last chance, a serve by Hassei Takahashi with just over five minutes to play, was redirected but sailed just over the net and Cliffside, in a defensive shell for the last 20 minutes, held on for the important win.
With only two games played in the season, there is still a long way to go and Jaeger is hoping his team will be better in the rematch at Cliffside Park on October 26.
"As a team we are young in regards to players that were starters and contributors a year ago. It's a learning experience, but we can't sit through games not having the pressure we need up front," said Jaeger, whose team will have a few days to regroup before hosting Dwight-Englewood at home on Saturday. "All the credit to Cliffside Park. They are best team in our league right now, so the important thing for us is to win the games we are supposed to and hope that we can set up another game with them that might count for a league championship."
Meanwhile, Cliffside hopes that it can keep the momentum going in a season that has brought high expectations with it.
"Tenafly is a good team, they have won the league the last couple of seasons, but we feel by beating them that every other team has to come through us before they can take that banner," said Ozgur Uyaroglu, Cliffside's All-County senior sweeper. "But we know that teams are looking for us and want to beat us, so it is not going to be easy."
FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME OR TO PURCHASE A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, VISIT THE NJS.com SCHOOL STORE!
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