Saturday, October 24, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

RIDGEWOOD – Coming into this week, the Ridgewood boys soccer team knew that its state tournament seed and it shot at a home game would be decided by whether they took care of business in winnable games. But against a Fair Lawn side that had lost five straight coming into Friday’s tilt with Ridgewood, the Maroons were dominated for the majority of the first half and trailed by a goal. That was until a spark from an unlikely source got them back on track.

Luke Muller scored with three seconds left in the first half, and Alex Sommer netted the game-winner 1:05 into the second half as Ridgewood held on for a 2-1 triumph at Maple Field.

“Not the consistency we were looking for today, but woke up at the right time,” said Ridgewood head coach Craig Mahler. “Luke (Muller) came up huge for us and it took a lot of pressure off of us going into halftime.”

Fair Lawn came out with intensity from the opening whistle desperate to stop its losing streak and got on the board 14 minutes into the half when Luke Walsh settled a ball, turned and fired a hard shot on the ground. It kissed the left post and bounced in to give the Cutters a 1-0 lead.

It seemed the lead was going to stay that way until Ridgewood was awarded a corner kick with just seconds to play in the opening half. Muller, who had come off the bench just minutes earlier, was unmarked at the back post on Matt Sommer’s corner kick. He collected the ball and drilled a shot into the back of the net with three seconds to play that tied the score at 1.

“We played so well in the first half and one breakdown cost us,” said Fair Lawn head coach Tony Nylander. “I think that carried over into the second half and we let up another quick one. We have stretches where we play good soccer, but also have stretches where we play poorly and you can’t have that. We didn’t give them too many easy chances, but we gave them two and that was enough to let this game slip away.”

Alex Sommer ran onto a long ball played by Joe Mullen just inside the top of the box. Fair Lawn keeper Edward Medow came out to challenge, but Sommer barely beat him to the ball. He got enough of a foot on a shot to pop it over Medow and into the net to put the Maroons ahead, 2-1.
Fair Lawn (4-10) had a chance to tie the game with just over 13 minutes to go when a foul in the box gave them a penalty kick, but that kick was pushed wide left and the Cutters got off just one shot the rest of the way.

The win moved Ridgewood to 10-5-1 and it likely earned a first-round home game in the North 1, Group 4 state tournament. With a well-organized back line and top-notch scoring threat Griffin Abbott up top, the Maroons will be a dangerous draw for any team in the states.

“We have to come out and do what we’re capable of doing, no matter who we play,” added Mahler. “We are gaining confidence and we’re doing it at the right time. It’s tough to play two days in a row, but we rose to the occasion and created scoring chances. If we can keep playing the way we have been lately, we have a chance to make a run.”

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