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Sunday,
October 25, 2009
By
Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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| Robert
Palmarrozza is all smiles after his goal early in the first
overtime gave Wayne Valley a 1-0 win over Passaic Valley and
its third county title in the last four years. |
WAYNE
– Robert Palmarrozza’s job of anchoring the Wayne
Valley defense is neither a glamorous job nor an easy one. His
defensive play has been essential to Wayne Valley having a fine
season to date, but he felt, as did his teammates, that their
season would be defined by whether they won a Passaic County title
or not. It looked as if they might have to share that crown after
being deadlocked with a stingy Passaic Valley squad looking for
its first county title in nearly two decades. Through 80 minutes
of regulation, both defenses held their ground in a scoreless
duel.
But with one overlapping
run early in the first overtime, Palmerrozza found himself alone
at the back post hoping a pass would come his way for a rare scoring
opportunity. Despite having just one goal so far this season,
Palmarrozza did not hesitate in a big spot when the ball came
his way.
The senior sweeper
headed Dan Bellet’s cross into the back of the net 1:46
into the first overtime period to give fourth-seeded Wayne Valley
its third Passaic County title in four years with a 1-0 victory
over sixth-seeded Passaic Valley at Wayne Valley High School.
“I don’t
get to score much, so this is a crazy feeling to have, scoring
in such a big game,” said Palmarrozza. “When the ball
went into the net, I couldn’t believe it happened. The good
thing for me is that it happened so fast that I didn’t have
time to think, I just reacted. When my teammates started rushing
the field, I knew the goal counted and it was over.”
Despite already having
played one another in the regular season (a 3-2 Wayne Valley overtime
win after trailing 2-0 at the half), the first half seemed like
more of a feeling-out process with neither team able to mount
much of an attack. The best chance for either side came just minutes
in when Wayne Valley’s Anthony Nucci was taken down near
the top of the box, but no foul was called. The Indians had another
chance late in the half on a long volley by John Kelly. Passaic
Valley goaltender Mike Libucha made a fantastic leaping save to
punch the ball over the crossbar and keep the game scoreless heading
into the second half.
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| Rafael
Marques and Passaic Valley fell one goal short of their first
county title since 1991. |
Wayne
Valley began to take control of the possession game in the second
half behind midfielder Jason Rosenberg, but that also left the
Indians susceptible to Passaic Valley’s counterattack with
speedsters Ryan Dunphy and Giancarlo Reda up front.
Both teams were able
to execute their style of play well in the second half, but neither
could crack the scoreboard. Libucha made several clutch saves
and the Hornets were not able to get off shots from in close,
in large part to the steady play of Palmarrozza in the back.
As they headed towards
overtime, both teams had to take more chances. It was simply a
matter of who would create that opportunity first and what that
team did with it when that chance came.
Less than two minutes
into the first overtime, Rosenberg ran onto a long through ball
up the middle of the field for a breakaway. Libucha came off of
his line to Rosenberg to touch the ball around to his right. Libucha
(who had eight saves in the game) retreated into position and
the angle was too tough to shoot from, so Rosenberg laid the ball
off to Bellet at the top corner of the box. Before the defense
was able to react, Bellet delivered a perfect cross over the Hornets’
defense to the far post for the tallest player on the field.
“When you get
into overtime, you just think about scoring anyway you can,”
said Rosenberg, also a standout on the basketball court for Wayne
Valley. “I knew I couldn’t get a shot off and saw
Dan Bellet open and laid it off to him. Before I knew what happened,
the ball was in the net. (Palmerrozza) had a huge smile on his
face and I knew we did it. Of the three county titles we won in
my four years here, this one takes the cake.”
Palmarrozza was unmarked
and headed the ball past Libucha and into the net for the only
goal of the match and the biggest goal Palmerrozza has ever scored
in his life.
“It’s a great feeling to win a game like this,”
said Wayne Valley head coach Dan Kilday. “Passaic Valley
is a great team that is really dangerous on the counterattack.
(Palmerrozza) has been an unsung hero for us all year and I’m
glad he was the one who got the game-winner.”
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| Jason
Rosenberg was in the middle of Wayne Valley's winning combination.
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The
loss was a bitter one to swallow for Passaic Valley (8-7-1). The
loss denied the Hornets their first county title since 1991 when
they shared the crown with Wayne Hills.
“No doubt about
it, it hurts right now,” said Passaic Valley head coach
Mike Couden. “I thought both teams battled and both teams
played well. It was going to come down to one mistake, one breakdown
on either side that was going to be the difference. All the credit
to Wayne Valley though, that was a beautiful goal and we have
to tip our cap. It’s tough to think ahead right now. But
we’ll regroup and I think we’ll be a tough out in
the state tournament just like we were last year.”
Chris Riviello (four
saves) had his third shutout in the last four games for Wayne
Valley (15-2-1). More importantly, the Indians have won their
third Passaic County championship in the last four years. That
moves them into a second-place with Passaic Valley for the most
titles in Passaic County Tournament history with four. The win
also was their eighth in a row.
While there are still
regular-season games remaining and a potential long run in the
state tournament, everything from this point in the season on
is merely a bonus. The Indians have already achieved their main
priority.
“We come into
every season with playing our best and winning a county title
as our goals,” added Palmarrozza. “It’s like
a dream that this is happening right now, it hasn’t set
in yet that we won it. It was a great game for all of us, and
for me it was the perfect ending.”
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