Friday, September 14, 2007

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Manchester's 6-3 junior striker Jerdaine Oldacre scored midway through the first half to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.

LODI – The sweeper position in the game of soccer is not one that carries with it a whole lot of prestige. The sweeper represents the last line of defense in front of the goalkeeper and is rarely, if ever, involved in the offense flow. It is also the highly scrutinized position when a defense breaks down and the opposing team scores. It is a demanding position that requires the ability to make snap-decisions with little in terms of glory for making the right decisions.

So when Manchester head coach Rich Broderick asked one of his captains, Paolo Hidalgo, to move back from center midfielder to sweeper, it was a huge responsibility for him to take on with three-quarters of the starting back line from last season now gone. But Hidalgo chose to make the switch to stabilize the defense and improve the team overall by doing so. He knew his offense scoring chances would be few and far between this season.

But with yesterday’s B-PSL tilt against Lodi tied at 1 late in the second half, he saw an opening and instinct just took over. Hidalgo made a run from midfield into the box on a corner kick and headed in a corner kick in the 68th minute for the game-winner as Manchester pulled off a mild upset with a 2-1 win over the Rams’ on their home field.

Lodi's Christhian Gutierrez pushing the ball forward during the first half.

“We worked really hard this summer and we worked as a team to come through late in games,” said Hidalgo. “Last year, we lost a lot of games in the last few minutes and we just missed making the state tournament. This year, we have a lot of new guys. If we work together though, we showed today that we can beat good teams and we’re going to have a good season.”

The Falcons struck first when Jon Navarette sent a long ball through to his big, fast target up top in Jerdaine Oldacre. The 6-3 junior outraced everyone to the ball at the top of the box and chipped it over Lodi goaltender Danny Ilijeski and into the side netting for a 1-0 lead midway through the first half.

“In any game, it is always important to score first,” said Oldacre. “We were really aggressive today and I wanted to make a point of trying to get to every ball first. Last year, we fell apart in games because we didn’t hustle on every single play. This year, we’re more hungry and that’s the kind of goals you score when you’re hungry.”

The Rams did not generate much offense in the opening stanza, but they were able to net the equalizer on a great individual effort by Antonio D’Angelo. He ran down a through ball in the corner, cut back past two defenders, then blasted a shot from 20 yards out just inside the near post to tie the score at 1. It would remain that way until deep into the second half.

Manchester's Paolo Hidalgo (left) scored the game-winner in the 68th minute.

Jorge Campuzano’s blast from 30 yards out was saved by a diving Ilijeski, but the ball trickled over the end line and Manchester was awarded a corner kick. Campuzano made good on his second opportunity, this time by finding an open teammate. Hidalgo made his long run into the box and was standing on the penalty spot unmarked. Campuzano booted his corner right to Hidalgo, who headed it past Ilijeski and just under the crossbar for a 2-1 lead.

“I was surprised by how wide open I was,” said Hidalgo. “I was so open that when the kick came to me, I had time to pick out a spot and try to head it there. It went exactly where I wanted it to go and I’m glad it went in.”

Someone else was also surprised by how wide open Hidalgo was, and that was Lodi head coach Tim Seripiglia.

“There was no communication and we totally broke down on that corner,” said Seripiglia. “This is a disappointing game for us because we just got outhustled from start to finish. Manchester honestly deserved to win this game just by the way they played. They came out intense and we didn’t match that intensity. We weren’t even sweating after the game and that’s a problem, especially with some of the teams we have coming up. We just have to learn from this or we’re in trouble.”

Goalkeeper Gary Steftenagel made five saves as Manchester improved to 2-0 on the season.

Manchester (2-0) held a 12-9 advantage in shots and a 6-3 edge in corner kicks. Ilijeski played well for Lodi (2-1) and notched six saves, while Gary Steftenagel had five for the Falcons.

“This is the hardest I’ve ever worked a team in the off-season and it was to prepare for tough league games like this one,” said Broderick. “We didn’t make the state tournament last year for the first time in my six years here. That didn’t sit well with me and it didn’t with the kids either. We made a commitment to being in better shape so we could go all out for 80 minutes. I thought we were really aggressive and we won a lot of loose balls, which ended up being a big factor in the outcome. Now that we have a couple of wins under our belt, we have an edge. But we still have to work hard and take things one step at a time.”

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