Parmelee Avenue, Hawthorne, NJ 07506

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

BOYS SOCCER:Rivals Hawthorne and Pompton Lakes settle for a draw

Hawthorne's Dave Peralta.

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

HAWTHORNE - It was not all that long ago when the budding rivalry between Hawthorne and Pompton Lakes was not much of a rivalry at all and no one knows that better than the Bears' first-year head coach Justin DeFeo. Hawthorne was still trying to build a foundation back when DeFeo was an All-County midfielder and over the past two seasons, Hawthorne has started to catch up, including two slugfests last year, which each team winning by a score of 2-0. The latter of those games was won by Hawthorne in the Passaic County Quarterfinals and Pompton Lakes finally got a chance to turn the tables on Tuesday afternoon. True to form, the gritty squads battled tooth-and-nail for every ball and the result was not necessarily a satisfying one for the players, but certainly a deserving one. Both teams netted first-half goals before the defenses took over. Hawthorne and Pompton Lakes combined for just six shots on goal over the final 74 minutes of play as, after both posted wins to open the season, the teams had to settle for a 1-1 draw on Saturday at Hawthorne High School. MORE...