November
12, 2005
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Sam Petron and Glen Rock won 15 games for the first time in more than 10 years before falling to Newton, 2-0, in Friday's North 1, Group 2 state sectional final. |
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GLEN ROCK -- The Glen Rock boys soccer team was 2:35 away from getting Friday's North 1, Group 2 state sectional final just where it wanted it. Had the score stayed the same for just 155 more seconds, the Panthers would have entered the second half with the weather conditions in their favor of what was then a scoreless game.
“We were hoping to hold them off and get out of that first half still scoreless,” said Glen Rock head coach Paul Cusack, whose team battled the wind and the low-hanging sun shining into its goal keeper’s eyes in the first half. “We definitely would have liked our chances.”
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| Newton's Luke Sparling celebrating his goal off a header that gave the Braves a 2-0 lead just 1:25 before half. |
But by the time the whistle blew to end the first half, Newton had the two goals it needed to pull its fourth straight state tournament upset on the road. The 11th seeded Braves got goals from Dan Ehehalt and Luke Sparling in the span of just 1:10, then packed the back for the final 40 minutes to claim their first sectional title since 1999 with a 2-0 win.
“I don’t know how many 11 seeds have ever won sectional championships, and to do it with four wins on the road against very good teams really says something about the way our kids battle,” said Newton head coach Pat O’Donahue, whose team knocked off Manchester, Pequannock and Indian Hills, the numbers 6, 3 and 7 seeds before topping No. 2 Glen Rock in the final. “It just goes to show what 10 guys on the field working together as one can do.”
Newton controlled possession in the opening half and had its share of opportunities, but Glen Rock thwarted everyone until there was less than three minutes to go in the first half when a foul gave the Braves a restart near midfield.
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| Glen Rock keeper Arthur Lim making one of his five saves. |
The free kick was played up the left side to Ehehalt, who timed his run perfectly to stay onside and gained possession about 12 yards from goal. He pushed toward the end line and then looked to cross the ball back toward the front of the net along the goal line. How the ball wound up in the net after it left Ehehalt’s foot, ricocheted through a tangle of bodies and bounced off the underside of the crossbar is anybody’s guess, but it was good enough for a 1-0 lead.
Just over a minute later, Newton (16-5-1) won a corner kick and the resulting goal was of the pretty variety. Dan Fullmer picked out the head of Sparling, who got above the defense and pounded one down and inside the far post for the insurmountable 2-0 lead.
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| Brian Kadesh was a part of Newton's physical defense that kept Glen Rock from using its speed to its advantage. |
“It was a great ball by Dan Fullmer. Me and him have been working well off corner kicks all year and he put the ball right where I could get to it and do something with it,” said Sparling. “We’ve hooked up a couple of times in the last couple of games and converting opportunities when they come is so important in the state tournament.”
Newton’s strategy from the outset was to close down the flanks and funnel everything back toward the middle of the field where its physical defense could neutralize Glen Rock’s outside speed, which comes from forwards Sam Petrone and Torri Hiroshi.
That tactic, along with the grass field that was showing the effects of a long season and the wind blowing the ball off line, made it hard for the Panthers to get wide.
Glen Rock (15-5-1) created some chances in the second half. Two minutes in, Petrone hit a restart from 30 yards out that was on target, but Newton keeper Paul Spence was there to make one of his five saves. Glen Rock’s best chance to score came when Hiroshi got free up the right side and dropped a pass to Matt Beverin, who then served the ball into the area where it was volleyed by Pablo Saldia.
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| Pablo Saldia was ruled offside on Glen Rock's last quality scoring chance. |
Spence came out to make a bang-bang save and Petrone was poised to bury the rebound, but never got the chance when it was ruled that he joined the play from an offsides position. Saldia was called offside after getting behind the defense on a restart with six minutes to play and Newton then closed out the game and Glen Rock’s successful season.
“It’s hard right now for our guys to realize exactly what they accomplished this season because they are so emotional about this loss. But this is the first time this program has had 15 wins in more than a decade and that is a credit to our seniors who have spent four years working hard,” said Cusack. “They brought it back to where it is now and now it is up to the underclassmen to make sure they keep this program moving forward.”
FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GAME OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.
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