One North 5th Street, Harrison, NJ 07029

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

NJSIAA North 2, Group 1 semifinals
BOYS SOCCER:Harrison gets a wake up call, then sends Whippany Park home

Harrison's Jason Cunha.

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

HARRISON – A coach never likes to see his team allow a goal just before halftime. However, sometimes that gives more motivation to his players than any halftime speech ever could. Having Whippany Park tie the game in the final minute of the first half proved to be the best thing that happened to Harrison head coach Mike Rusek. With nine senior starters possibly playing their last game and ending their season without a county or state championship, not much needed to be said. Harrison did some fine-tuning and came out much more aggressive to start the second half. Joao Conceicao scored the go-ahead goal eight minutes into the second half and Jason Cunha capped the scoring late as top-seeded Harrison controlled the second half en route to a 3-1 win over No. 4 seed Whippany Park in the North 2, Group 1 semifinals on Wednesday at Harrison High School. “This was a real nice win over a skilled team that was bigger and stronger than we are,” said Rusek. “We started winning balls in the midfield, which allowed us to get our attack going out wide. Winning the possession battle gave us an advantage and they started to wear down in the back during the second half.” MORE...