Wednesday, October 21, 2009

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Bergen Catholic's Danny Pinto was taken down on this play that led to the tying goal late in regulation and set up the Crusaders' 5-4 win in double overtime against rival Don Bosco Prep.

ORADELL – There was one goal scored to tie the game with 16 seconds left in regulation. There was a penalty kick that decided the game with no time left on the clock in double overtime. There was a goal scored less than three minutes into the game, rocking stands full of loud and opposing student sections to witness the early frontrunner for Game of the Year. But to truly get a sense of what went on at the turf field behind Bergen Catholic High School, it is better summed up by one who was closer to the situation.

“It’s Bergen/Bosco, that’s just what it is,” said Don Bosco Prep head coach Mark Maka. “You can talk about it and try to prepare for it as much as you want, but when you step on the field this rivalry is out of control, you know?”

Well, now everybody knows as the game started with a bang and never slowed down. Bosco led by two goals just 9 minutes in, but Bergen Catholic tied it by halftime. Bosco had leads of 3-2 and 4-3 in the second half and was within 16 seconds of staying unbeaten.

Ryan McNamara scored on a direct kick early and penalty kick late to give Don Bosco Prep leads of 1-0 and 4-3.

But it was Tony Flaim’s free kick from 20 yards out, a rocket into the upper shelf, that forced the first overtime and a handball called in the box that set up Marc Teitelbaum’s penalty kick with no time left in the second overtime and with little daylight left on the field, that finally gave Bergen Catholic a stunning 5-4 win.

“We knew all along that we had the depth and the talent that could carry us through a long way and today we proved that we have the character,” said Bergen Catholic head coach Marc Edge, whose team improved to 15-0-1 on the season. “To come back from behind – 1-0 down, 2-0 down – to tie it up and then to win it there in the end, the character of the team, that intangible element, is with them now and we certainly believe that we can push on from here.”

Ryan McNamara knocked a free kick into the upper right three minutes into the game to give Bosco the lead and then sent in Dylan Renna, whose first touch was a perfectly-placed shot just under the crossbar that gave the Ironmen the 2-0 lead in the ninth minute.

Lost in the shaky start was that Bergen Catholic was actually building up a possession advantage that would eventually pay dividends. Whereas as Bosco was deadly effective on quick counter attacks, Bergen was moving the ball around and probing for openings, which won some restarts on the sidelines, a weapon on BC’s home field that is of less than full width.

Tony Flaim's direct kick from 20 yards out with 16 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 4.

Brian Pash’s long throw-in from the right side in the 22nd minute made a beeline for the middle of the 6 and all Randy Pearce had to do was redirect it slightly, which he did with his head to get BC back to within 2-1. The Crusaders got even eight minutes before halftime when Marcelo Escudero shook off a defender on the left side, regained his balance and then skidded one inside the opposite post.

But that was just the entrée for the wild 60 minutes that were played after the intermission. Although both teams had their chances in the first 20 minutes of the second half, it got real interesting inside the final 20 of regulation starting with a defensive mistake that gave Don Bosco the lead back. A Bergen Catholic defender tried to play the ball back to the keeper with a header, but it took a high bounce and Renna raced in to knock the ball into the open net with 17:14 showing on the clock.

Pash helped get BC even again with his throw-in that landed on the head of Connor Alexander, who fought through traffic to flick it in and tie the game with 12:29 to go before a penalty in the box gave Bosco the chance to line up McNamara for a penalty kick that he converted into a 4-3 lead with 11:19 left.

Dylan Renna scored twice for Don Bosco Prep, which fell to 12-1 on the season.

Bosco was less then 20 seconds away from making its last lead stand up, but on what was likely Bergen Catholic’s final offensive push, Danny Pinto was taken down from behind inside the arc on the top of the penalty area and Flaim was called on to take the make-or-break direct kick.

“We were here last night. Tony was out here with the mannequins,” said Edge. “We finished practice and I sat out here with Tony and a couple of the other guys and he was just hitting balls from that spot, ironically,” said Edge.

Hitting balls after practice and doing it down a goal against an archrival with almost no time left in regulation are two different animals, but to Flaim there was little distinction. He disregarded the wall Bosco had set up in the middle of the box and drilled his shot confidently into the upper half.

“My heart was pounding when I stepped up, but I was only thinking about what would happen if I made it, not what would happen if I missed,” said Flaim. “I stayed here yesterday and all I did for 45 minutes after practice was take those free kicks and it paid off.”

Flaim’s goal pushed the game into the first overtime where it almost ended twice. Bergen had the first chance when it put together a pretty combination that started and ended with Teitelbaum. With possession on the right corner of the box, he moved the ball to Escudero, who then played it on to Nick Veenstra, whose first touch went in the air toward Teitelbaum, who circled to the left and flicked a header that was ticketed for the near post before Bosco keeper Sandy Leavy shut it down with a diving stop.

Marcelo Escudero's goal with 7:58 left in the first half brought Bergen Catholic back even after falling behind 2-0.

With 5:10 left in the first OT, Bosco’s George Velasquez skimmed the crossbar from 30 yards out and that represented the last almost of the first extra session. It seemed like the tie was all but assured late in the second overtime when a Bosco defender moved toward a free ball deep in his own end as the final seconds ticked away.

But before he could move it out of trouble and before the referee blew the final whistle, the ball took a funky hop into the arm of the defender and the decisive hand ball was called. Teitelbaum looked off the keeper to his right, then went to the upper left for the final goal of a classic game and the Crusaders’ lone lead, the only one that counted.

The loss was the first for Bosco after 12 straight wins to start the season and was a big one for Bergen, which is now alone atop the standings in the NJTCC as its only blemish is a tie against Clifton.

Bosco and Bergen met three times last season and it could happen again this year. Bosco is the top seed in the Bergen County Tournament heading into this weekend’s quarterfinals, where Bergen Catholic is the No. 3. They could see each other again in the county final and both will be contenders in the Non-Public Group 4 state sectional tournament.

“I think this was a good experience. It is difficult to go through a season and win everything going undefeated. Sometimes the best efforts are the hardest ones and maybe we can get something positive out of this,” said Maka. “This was Round 1. We look forward to seeing them, absolutely.”

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