Friday, October 7, 2011

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Luke Giegerich scored just over 10 minutes into the second half to put the finishing touch on Pascack Valley's 3-0 win at Rutherford in the opening round of the County Tourney.

RUTHERFORD – It is a long season, but the outcome of just one game can make a big impact. For the Pascack Valley boys soccer team, that one bad game was a one-goal loss to Tenafly just before the seedings of the Bergen County Tournament. In one fell swoop, the Indians went from a near lock to being one of the top eight seeds with a first round bye, to a participant in the play-in round and one that had to go on the road against an unfamiliar opponent just to play its way into the main draw and they landed in Rutherford on Thursday afternoon.

“We got ourselves this matchup because we didn't get certain things done in Tenafly and hats off to Tenafly. They battled us in some tough conditions, they got the 'W' and that is why we were here today,” said Pascack Valley head coach Roy Nygren. “We came down here without really an idea of who Rutherford was. Sometimes when you play north of Route 4 and you come down south of Route 4, there is a little bit of an invisible wall there and you are not quite sure what to expect.”

Pascack Valley made the proper introductions and then put two goals in in the first 20 minutes on the way to a 3-0 win and a date with Ridgewood in the Round of 16 on Sunday. An own goal under pressure off a throw-in gave The Indians their first goal and Max Linden added the second to put Pascack Valley comfortably in front.

Paulo Sant'Ana had one of Rutherford's best chances, a follow-up header 10 minutes into the second half.

“One of our players, I am not really even sure who, sent a ball across. I just came in and toe-poked it into the back corner,” said Linden. “In a way [that loss to Tenafly] could have helped us. People might underestimate us seeing that we are a No. 21 seed when we just as easily could have been a No. 2 seed or a No. 3 seed. That gives us some incentive to prove that we a No. 2 or 3 seed type of team.”

So much of high school soccer, this season at least, has moved to a reliance on restarts, long throw-ins and corner kicks, for offensive production. Pascack Valley does not subscribe to that theory, preferring to find its chances through the flow of play. That puts the focus on ball movement and being sharp, which make the Indians fun to watch when they are playing well.

“There is a push to create chaos in the box and that is what I have seen a lot of in the county up to this point. We are the antithesis of that,” said Nygren. “We've got to play smart on the ball, get numbers around the ball and when we do that we can be a really tough team.”

For as well as Pascack Valley played through the first 50 minutes, Rutherford did have an opportunity to make things interesting. It was a throw from the left sidelines that led to the Bulldogs' best chance of the game, one that could have sliced PV's lead in half and made the final 30 minutes a dog fight. PV goalkeeper Chris Conti came out aggressively and got into the air against Rutherford's Gabriel Araujo, who got enough of the ball to keep it alive.

Max Linden scored Pascack Valley's second goal.

Paulo Sant'Ana was next in the rush to the net and his header seemed destined for the open space created by the scrum. But his header hit the bottom of the crossbar and careened downward instead of continuing its flight forward. Before anyone other Bulldog could get to the second rebound, PV's Kieran Walsh cleared the ball off the line and out of trouble.

Just over a minute later Luke Giegerich got free and made it 3-0 Pascack Valley. From a potential nail-biter to a three goal game in 73 seconds.

“We were a little flat for the first 10 minutes of the second half and we were looking to regain our edge and dictate the pace of the game like we did for most of the first half. We did that on that counter for the third goal and we were able to build it from the back,” said Giegerich. “Somebody sent a ball up and Max [Linden] chased it down the left flank, cut it in to an open field and I ran on to it and just placed it right to the right corner.”

Pascack Valley also got solid work from it back line as Conti was quick to cut off through balls and sweeper Christian Vergnes controlled any runs up the middle as Rutherford (6-3) made physical attempts at cracking the defense.

David Gonzalez had a busy day in net for Rutherford, which fell to 6-3 with the loss.

Pascack Valley is now 7-2-1 on the season and enter the Round of 16 on a high note. The Indians will play Ridgewood, the unofficial No. 5 seed although the tournament committee is a bit finicky about putting numbers in front of team names in the brackets. The only distinguishing feature that sets the high seeds apart from the lower seeds is the supposed favorite wears white jerseys.

“We are going to go there at 4 o'clock at Ramapo [High School] and we'll be wearing our away jerseys again, let's just put it that way,” said Nygren. “I know Ridgewood. They play in our tournament in the summer and they have tough kids, they run hard and they know how to play. I think it will be a good game and we just have to keep working on the things that make us successful and hope that is enough.”

After the Tenafly loss, Pascack Valley is looking forward to Sunday as a second chance to make a first impression.

“With the drawbacks we have had in the last couple of games, not that we have been playing so bad but we have had a couple of bad results, we are excited about this win and moving on," said Giegerich. "This wasn't a questionable win, it was a quality win and it is a real momentum builder going into Sunday."

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