Monday, November 2, 2009

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Kyle Riker scored both of Bergen Catholic's goals, the second on a penalty kick in the 75th minute, to give the Crusaders a 2-1 win over Cliffside Park and a spot in the Bergen County final.

FRANKLIN LAKES – The question for Bergen Catholic heading into Bergen County Tournament semifinals against fellow unbeaten Cliffside Park was whether or not the Crusaders could match the speed of the Red Raiders on a big field. For Cliffside, it was going to come down to whether or not it could handle the bumps it was inevitably going to take against BC’s physical style of play.

Both teams answered those questions and the result was an entertaining 80 minutes of high level soccer at Ramapo High School, but the difference between the two teams was not what happened within the flow of play, but came down to the one area where no team has been able to stop Bergen Catholic this season.

Restarts have been BC’s unmatched weapon this season and it used two of them to score both of its goals in a 2-1 win that puts the Crusaders into the final against Don Bosco Prep, a 4-0 winner over Ramsey in Sunday’s semifinal nightcap.

Kyle Riker scored both BC goals, the first after a scramble initiated by a throw-in in the 48th minute, and the second on a penalty kick with 5:28 left in regulation after a handball by a Cliffside defender in a last resort situation. Riker calmly stepped over the penalty kick and knocked it into the right side of the net for the game-winner.

Kevin Montoya's goal off a corner kick in the 67th minute tied the game for Cliffside Park.

“We practice PKs all the time and I just took the same approach to it,” said Riker, BC’s senior midfielder. “Our goal is to win counties and we are close now, we have one more game, and that is what we have been working for all season.”

The first half was scoreless as the two teams adjusted to their unfamiliar opponents.

“At halftime we said to them like the Wizard of Oz, ‘We are not in Kansas anymore, we are not in the BCSL-American anymore’ and we had to step up with the physicality,” said Cliffside Park head coach Jim Fucci. “We answered that and I am proud of my boys.”

For Bergen Catholic it was a matter of staying home defensively against Cliffside Park’s varied and quick attack.

“We defended well in our two banks of four there. There were a few lapses in concentration, but I am really pleased with the way we defended,” said Bergen Catholic head coach Mark Edge. “We knew they were skillful, we tried not to jump in on them and we followed the game plan.”

Scrums off of restarts are what Bergen Catholic strives on.

One of the interesting matchups was between Connor Alexander, BC’s physical and imposing defender, and Cliffside Park’s Xau Paz, one of North Jersey’s most dangerous strikers. It was also a matchup between two club teammates.

“Me and Tony [Flaim] have a lot of experience against good strikers and we know X because he is on our travel team at Pasco, so we know most of his moves. We know him, we’ve studied him and it gives an advantage,” said Alexander. “But also because we know him we know how dangerous he can be.”

But for all of the offensive talent running around on the pitch, the game’s three goals all came not from brilliant volleys or ankle-breaking combinations, but from slugfests with the ball being played in from the side.

Bergen Catholic went up 1-0 when Brian Pash’s throw-in from the right side sailed into the pile at the front of the net. Cliffside keeper Pedro Sanchez was quick off his line and punched the ball away just above the head of BC’s Jared Dublin. Sanchez decided to try to chase the deflection and he scrambled toward the upper corner of the penalty area, but before he could get there, Alexander knock the ball back in and Riker was there to redirect it home to give BC the lead.

The battle between BC's Connor Alexander (back) and Cliffside's Xau Paz, club teammates, was an interesting battle.

Cliffside, which was playing without its starting center midfielder, junior Sebastian Castrillon, and right halfback Edwin Molina, who exited with an injury in the first 10 minutes, regrouped to tie it up.

The equalizer was set up by Bobby Menendez, who took a pass in the middle of the field about 40 yards out and took two touches to his left in search of a shooting lane. He found it and hit a hard skipper that might or might not have found its way inside the right post. But it was close enough to force BC keeper Christian Jansson to make a play on it and he dove to his left to push it wide and give Cliffside a corner kick.

And when the ball was played back in Kevin Montoya, Cliffside’s senior defender Kevin Montoya pushed up and was in position to jam it home at the near post in the 67th minute. The tie lasted for just about eight minutes before BC earned the restart that led to the game-winner.

Again it was a long Pash throw that headed toward the pile again. Alexander got a flick on it, and it skipped to Marcelo Escudero, who headed it back toward the net. With the keeper out, a Cliffside defender played the ball with his hand and BC was awarded the PK that Riker buried.

“We have a special play where I run to the near post and try to flick it on to someone. There goalie was coming out all day and I got a flick on it to get it over his head,” said Alexander. “It went to Marcelo on the back post and he headed it. There were five defenders on the line, but they hand-balled it and Kyle got the penalty kick for his second goal, the one we needed.”

Christian Jannson came up with some big saves for BC, which will play Don Bosco Prep in next weekend's county final.

Cliffside’s plan was to get more shots off from the center midfield and the times it was able to do so led to dangerous chances. It was finding those chances against a physical defense that was difficult for the Red Raiders, and the reasons behind the limited space were frustrating to Fucci.

“I think we played better soccer than them, no question about it. We don’t rely just on throw-ins and corners. We rely on a balanced attack and, granted, at times today it wasn’t balanced,” said Fucci, who held nothing back in his post game comments.

“We faced adversity today. We came into this game without our spiritual leader [Castrillon], who broke his foot on Thursday against Tenafly, our center mid who controls a lot for us. That was the first obstacle and the second obstacle was our right half[back] dropped out in the first 15 minutes,” added Fucci, who wasn’t done. “The third obstacle was that we were getting the [stuffing] beat out of us and we kept getting back up after getting punched in the face. That was an obstacle when no colors were thrown to correct the style of play and the fourth obstacle was that we went down a goal, but came back to tie it up. Four obstacles and I think we answered the bell on every one.”

DON BOSCO PREP 4, RAMSEY 0

The top-seeded Ironmen got three goals from Dylan Renna in the first half to take control early. Ten minutes in, Renna ran on to a serve played in by George Velasquez, won the race against the keeper and popped one under the crossbar to give Bosco the lead for good. Renna redirected a cross into the right side with 18:54 left in the first half and completed his hat trick before the intermission when he volleyed home a Velasquez serve in the 24th minute.

Bosco, which lost in last year’s final to Ramapo last won the county title in 2007 and will get a second shot at Bergen Catholic, which handed the Ironmen their lone loss of the season, 5-4 in double overtime, back on Oct. 20. The county final will be played on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at River Dell High School.

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