Saturday, November 5, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Nate Odusote scored HCA's second goal and it stood up as the Defenders reached the sectional quarterfinals for the first time since 2003 with a 2-1 win over Queen of Peace.

NORTH ARLINGTON – Clinging to a one-goal lead late in the second half of Friday’s Non-Public North B quarterfinal match, the seconds seemed like minutes and the minutes felt like hours for Hawthorne Christian Academy. With the wind at its back and playing on its home field, Queen of Peace frantically tried to net the tying goal and send the game to overtime. HCA’s nickname, the Defenders, could not have been a more apt monicker for a team that needed to do just that right down to the last second to survive.

Freshman Caleb Hart made a huge save with four seconds left in the first half and punched away the Golden Griffins’ last shot as the final whistle sounded giving seventh-seeded Hawthorne Christian its first sectional semifinal berth since it beat Dwight-Englewood in the quarterfinals in 2003 with a heart-stopping, 2-1 upset over No. 2 seed Queen of Peace at Skyline Field in North Arlington.

“We knew it was going to be a battle, we’re just happy to come out on top and keep our season going,” said Hawthorne Christian’s Matt Sanger. “We came into this game as big underdogs and so all the pressure was on them. After missing states last year, to get back here and now make it to the semifinals is a great feeling.”

With the wind at its back in the first half, Hawthorne Christian set the tone early with two legitimate scoring chances in the game’s first 90 seconds before breaking through later in the half with two goals in a five-minute span.

Nick Rogers scored the lone goal for Queen of Peace.

The first goal got started when Jake Hart won a 50-50 ball and sent it down into the corner. Chris Aust collected the pass before it went over the end line and went to bend in a cross from a tough angle. On the way though, it grazed a QP defender and knuckled into the upper right-hand corner of the net in the 27th minute for a 1-0 HCA lead.

Hart had his hand in the second goal as well off one of his signature long throw-ins. With a defender on each hip and his back to the goal, Nate Odusote juggled the ball twice then flicked it over the heads of the two QP defenders. He busted right in between the two and his shot glanced off the left post and in to give the Defenders a two-goal lead. Queen of Peace’s best scoring chance of the half came in the waning seconds when Caleb Hart made a diving save off of a header by Marshall Delgado to keep the 2-0 lead heading into the second half.

“The first thing we wrote on the board for our kids was to start off well, which I thought we did extremely well,” said Hawthorne Christian head coach Tyler Van Dyk. “We won balls in the midfield and in our defensive third. That helped us to keep attacking when we got the ball forward. Scoring first definitely took off some pressure off and we played loose. That’s what we needed with eight freshman and sophomores in our starting lineup today.”

Caleb Hart made a save with 4 seconds left to preserve the win for Hawthorne Christian.

The Defenders could have padded their lead several times in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but a couple of miscues in front and a terrific save by goaltender Nick Nardone on a shot by Aust allowed the Golden Griffins to hang around long enough to make a run.

A 40-yard direct kick from A.J. Len was tipped off the crossbar by Hart midway through the second half, which did not change the score but got Queen of Peace headed back in the right direction. Six minutes later, Nick Rogers buried a shot from outside the top of the box to slice the Defenders’ two-goal lead in half, 2-1.

The Golden Griffins changed alignments on two occasions over the final 14 minutes to get numbers forward in hopes of netting the equalizer. Behind the play of Sanger, along with seniors Jody Lamb and Brendan Teschon in the back, the Defenders were able to hold onto to the lead heading into the final seconds. Then Sanger committed a foul and the Golden Griffins were awarded a free kick from 30 yards out. With the referee now counting down the final 10 seconds aloud, QP’s Tyler Zielinski took the kick and struck the ball well toward the upper left-hand corner. Hart got up to punch it away just as the final whistle sounded with HCA holding on for one of the biggest wins in the program’s history.

“I could hear the referee counting the seconds down and I just wanted to hear that whistle, especially since it was me who gave up the foul,” added Sanger. “Once I heard it, we were all pretty relieved. To hold off a team like Queen of Peace isn’t easy and we managed to do it. It was an amazing game to be a part of.”

Nick Nardone made 11 saves for Queen of Peace, which finished its season with a 10-9 record.

Jake Hart, a sophomore, assisted on both goals, while his freshman brother, Caleb, made 10 saves to lead Hawthorne Christian (12-5). Nardone made 11 saves and Rogers scored the lone goal to finish with 18 on the season for Queen of Peace, which ended the year with a 10-9 record.

Hawthorne Christian now moves into its first section semifinal since the days of All-Passaic stars Keith Nye and David Taylor. This time, it will be a much younger cast they are leaning on to help pull another upset. They will be on the road again to face the winner of third-seed Newark Academy and sixth-seeded Morris Catholic. With the two state wins and a section semifinal berth, the Defenders have already exceeded expectations. Now it is about having fun and seeing just how far they can keep the wheels on the joyride.

“This whole season has been a lot of fun and we’re having even more of it now,” said Hawthorne Christian’s Jake Hart. “We had to keep our composure today when things got down and the game got a little chippy. It was tough, but we fought our way through it. It’s great to see our hard work already having paid off. Now we have to focus on getting the next one and taking it a step further.”

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