September
17, 2004
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| Dan Kusnic scored both of Lakeland's goals, including the equalizer in the 66th minute. | |
WANAQUE -- The game had just about everything that makes a soccer match interesting to watch. There were spectacular goals, clutch saves in crunch time, lead changes, a good sized crowd and 20 minutes of fast-paced overtime all framed within the rivalry that is West Milford versus Lakeland.
The game
had everything, that is, except a winner. Even 100 minutes of play could not
settle the score as Lakeland got the equalizing goal in the 66th minute and
neither team could find the back of the net the rest of the way as it finished
in a 2-2 tie.
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| Chris Guadagno's goal in the 61st minute gave West Milford a 2-1 lead. |
West Milford (0-1-1) took the lead twice, scoring the first and third goals of the game, but even though it couldn't hold its two advantages, Highlander head coach Greg Vetter saw plenty of positives from his team that returns just four starters and lost 75 percent of its goal scoring to graduation.
"A 2-2 tie against these guys, I'll take it. We are a young team but we fought hard today," said Vetter, who coached West Milford to an overtime win over Lakeland the last time the two teams met in last year's North 1, Group 3 state sectional playoffs. "I am not going to predict wins and losses for us this year, but I'll take games like this every time out. If we play like we did today, we'll be in every game."
A big
reason for optimism is the attack, which has three skilled players that can
throw a lot at opposing defenses. Sophomore Kyle Gilroy is a talented striker
with excellent ball handling skills that were on display on both of West Milford's
goals.
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| Harold Ore set up Lakeland's second goal by being first to a 50/50 ball in the area. |
In the ninth minute, Gilroy ran onto a ball on the right side and took one touch that rolled to far. Its path allowed Lakeland keeper Kyle Cosmillo to cut the angle and Gilroy's shot went wide. Four minutes later, Gilroy learned from his mistake and, given just about the same opportunity, he took an extra dribble toward the middle of the goal, beat the last line of defense and poked one inside the opposite post for a 1-0 West Milford lead.
Lakeland (1-0-2) struck back in the 22nd minute when Dan Kusnic corralled a turnover in the back and found himself 1-v-1 against West Milford keeper Sean Hashon just 12 yards from goal. Kusnic chose the lower left corner to even things up.
The rest
of the first half belonged to Cosmillo as West Milford put numerous threats
on net. In the 28th minute, West Milford's Brian Domanski ran onto a rebound
off a shot that had been knocked down in front, but his blast from 20 yards
out was handled by Cosmillo, who lunged to his right to pluck it.
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| Kyle Gilroy gave the Lakeland defense fits for most of the game. |
"I know that my defense will come through for me. I know that if show up and play to support them, they won't let me down," said Cosmillo, who hasn't had much of a working margin as Lakeland has tied two of its first three games. "It took us about 15 minutes to get into the game, that was a problem and it was how they got their first goal, but all this will do is fire us up for our next game."
With just eight minutes to go before the half, Gilroy got free up the right side again, but Cosmillo made the adjustment and just got enough glove on the rolling shot to steer it wide of the far post. Three minutes later, Cosmillo and Gilroy came together again at the top box and the resulting carom slid just wide.
"It was
all adrenalin. This is a rivalry, we lost our first game (to Passaic Valley)
by three goals and we had to bounce back," said Gilroy, who scored two goals
in three varsity games last season after being called up from the freshman
team. "We had our chances and we should have won. A tie is a little disappointing."
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| Lakeland's Eric Harthman had the last good chance of the second overtime but it was saved by West Milford keeper Sean Hashon. |
Immediately after the break Gilroy was at it again. He took a long ball in the corner and made a sweet spin move on the last defender to get free, but Cosmillo handled the low liner and Lakeland then began to pepper the West Milford net.
Jeff Freitag ran onto a bouncing ball in the box and ripped one that Hashon came out to break up at point blank range. Harold Ore than found himself with the ball after a corner kick rolled through a tangle of legs, but Hashon again was up to the challenge.
It took some fancy footwork for either team to gain the next advantage and again it was Gilroy that created the chance. He took a ball just inside the midfield stripe and flipped it up to himself in the air. His second touch came before the ball hit the ground and he popped a lead pass forward to Chris Guadagno, who stayed onside.
Cosmillo
read the play and came out quickly, but Guadagno's shot ricocheted off the
inside of the far post and in for a 2-1 West Milford lead in the 60th minute.
Lakeland then got even on some hard work by Ore, who challenged Hashon in
the air and caused a 50/50 ball to squirt free to Kusnic, who was waiting
at the back door to volley it home uncontested.
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| Sweeper Dan Anderson is one of only four returning starters for West Milford. |
Hashon saved the tie by parrying an Eric Harthman shot over the bar in the second overtime and the teams walked off with a draw.
"I am happy with the fact that we went down 1-0 and 2-1 and then came back both times, but I am not really happy with a tie on our home field," said Lakeland head coach Rick Capozzi. "We controlled the play in the second half and in the overtime for the most part, but we couldn't get the last goal we needed. That's been our problem so far, putting the ball in the net and we are trying to figure it out."
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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