Friday, October 24, 2008

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Pascack Valley's Nick Gazzillo (24) making the run against Pascack Hills keeper Jason Winikoff that led to the second goal in PV's 3-2 win on Thursday.

MONTVALE -- Six weeks of playing and Pascack Valley's boys soccer season came down to separate seven-minute spans that came early and late in the second half against rival Pascack Hills on Thursday afternoon. The first seven-minute stretch saw the Indians break open a scoreless game and put three goals in early in the second half. The second seven-minute stretch covered the time from when Pascack Hills drew to within one goal to the end of the game that Pascack Valley needed to win or tie to qualify for the state tournament.

“We came into this game hoping to get the seniors in [to the state tournament] and if we could get there we know that it is played round by round and anything can happen,” said PV’s senior goalkeeper John Sagala. “Those last seven minutes were pretty long. I was nervous for a couple of minutes there thinking that we may have to go to overtime, but we held our ground and came out on top.”

Brian Thorworth's goal with seven minutes to play got Pascack Hills to within a goal.

Pascack Valley did come out on top in a 3-2 victory that improved its season record to 7-6 and put them in the North 1, Group 2 state sectional playoffs.

“We dedicated the game to the seniors and they have worked so hard. I am so proud that could punch their ticket and get in there,” said PV head coach Roy Nygren. “We have three more games in the league to work on things before we go into the state tournament and you’ve seen it so many times in the postseason, anything can happen. It’s a new season and if we can stay healthy and fresh, who knows?”

After a first half in which Pascack Hills actually owned the better of the scoring chances. Sagala dove low to his left with 15 minutes left in the first half to save a Sean Harrington shot off a redirected cross and, three minutes later, Brian Teitel’s chip from 30 yards out skimmed the crossbar on its way over the end line.

But in the second half, PV came out flying and started applying pressure almost immediately. Four minutes in, AJ Scimeca made a hard run up the middle of the field, but was run off the ball by a Pascack Hills defender. But Jake Band, running hard in support, got on the loose ball and reached the penalty area before poking it past Jason Winikoff, the Cowboys keeper who was charging hard.

Joe Giovatto's bender in the 53rd minute stood up as the game winner for Pascack Valley.

Band, who is playing with an injured shoulder that had him in a sling after the game, gave his team the lead for good, but after his goal the game was anything but over. The next PV possession resulted in a cross by Joe Giovatto, whose line drive from the corner cleared a pile in front and fell to the foot of Raffaele Lo Basso, whose secondary rip forced Winikoff to go low for a diving save that kept his team within a goal momentarily.

The Indians struck again in the 50th minute when Nick Gazzillo pushed hard up the right, forcing Winikoff to abandon his line. The two came together about 15 yards from the net and Winikoff recorded a tough save, but the rebound bounced back to Scimeca, who had time to plan his chip that tucked itself under the crossbar for a 2-0 PV lead.

”Nicky Gazzillo had the ball and he dribbled through a few people and the goalie came out at him. Nicky tried to shoot it, but the goalie blocked it. It came rolling out to me and there were like three people in my way. I just lofted it right over them and into the goal,” said Scimeca, who picked the perfect time to score his first goal of the season. “We picked up a lot of momentum with that one. After I put that one win I could see it in everyone’s faces; we were all like ‘Yeah, we got this one.”

David Anastasio started Pascack Hills' comeback with a crack in the 64th minute.

Two minutes after that, Giovatto, a sophomore with tremendous touch, did not need much room to put PV up 3-0. He got to within 25 yards hugging the left sideline and then hit a bender that curled inside the far post and it looked like the Indians were home free.

Not so fast.

Pascack Hills, which is playing out the string and could just as easily have gone in the tank, chose the opposite approach. With a chance to knock its rival out of the state playoffs was enough incentive to keep pushing and, as the game got more physical (chippy, even) the Cowboys made a last ditch effort.

It started with a pretty goal from senior captain David Anastasio. Tom DiFiore played the ball to Brian Thorworth, who then sent in Anastasio in up the left side. Anastasio then hit a bullet with the outside of his right foot that hit the side net inside the far post to draw the Cowboys to within 3-1 with 17 minutes to play. And then the final seven minutes came about and Pascack Hills went for broke.

Justin Tosi brought a ball down in the midfield, turned up and then was freed when two Pascack Valley defenders came together and knocked each other off the play. Tosi pushed to his right, and then fed the ball into the middle where Thorworth took possession. He took a pause to let a defender run by, then went low left to get the Cowboys back to within a goal.

John Sagala made 7 saves as PV improved to 7-6 on the season.

Pascack Hills held the possession advantage in the waning minutes but could not find that one last opportunity to net a potential equalizer.

“They are our rival and we really wanted to end their season,” said Pascack Hills senior Brett Harris. “We were down 3-0, but there was no way we were going down easy. We got two back, we just ran out of time.”

And when time finally did expire, Pascack Valley had extended its season by at least one postseason game.

“It’s a great feeling. It’s my senior year and it feels great to be in the state tournament. We had some tough losses this year that we learned from and they helped get us where we want to be,” said PV’s Sean Cosgrove. “The offense gave us a 3-0 cushion to work with today and we needed all of it, but we got it done.”

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