Wednesday, November 20, 2013

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Federico deOliviera celebrates one of his three goals that led David Brearley Regional to a 5-0 win over Park Ridge in the Group 1 state semifinals.

OAKLAND – With the wind was howling straight down the middle of the pitch behind Indian Hills High School in the Group 1 state semifinals on Tuesday night, the first half was almost like the away leg of the home and home series like the ones played in international soccer. David Brearley Regional was against the wind for the opening 40 minutes and if the Bears could just stay close for the duration, it would be in prime position to go after it when the advantage switched to its side after the break.

Brearley did one better as it put together the perfect counterattack, racing the other way after a Park Ridge corner kick in the 27th minute. It would have been impossible to have moved the ball up the field through the air, so Brearley kept it on the ground as Jason Miranda started the charge from the back and then connected with Marc Cunha in the midfield. Cunha knocked the ball forward, Federico deOliviera ran through it and it was on as he played the ball wide to the left to Phillip Costa, who got into the box and put a shot on goal. The first save was made, but deOliviera, hovering at the back post, hammered home the rebound.

That was the first goal that Park Ridge had allowed in its entire state tournament run and the one that put Brearley (19-2) firmly in the driver's seat as the Bears hit the gas on the way to a 5-0 win and Sunday's Group 1 state final.

“We felt that if we could go 0-0 into the halftime that we would be in good shape. But we were able to get a goal in the first half against that wind and that put us in a good spirit,” said Brearley head coach Vincent McGowan. “We got an early goal in the second half as well and that helped our momentum and our confidence and we kept it rolling from there.”

Eric Luther was part of a group of 14 seniors that helped lead Park Ridge to its first ever boys soccer section title.

There was a play here or there that, had it gone a different way, might have helped Park Ridge stay in the game a little longer, but the truth is that the combination of deOliviera up top and Costa tucking in behind him was too much to handle. That partnership would be formidable in any state tournament classification, but in Group 1 it is almost unstoppable as shown on Tuesday night on Hank Boggio Field. deOliviera recorded a natural hat trick and Costa assisted on all three of those goals with the second two coming inside the first 10 minutes of the second half.

deOliviera pinged one off the right post and in from the slot off a Costa feed in the 48th minute and the pair hooked up again just 1:33 later as Costa won the endline and deOliviera buried it in the upper shelf from 12 yards away to make it 3-0.

“They are tough players. They are quick and they shoot the ball from wherever. We knew that going in and we said 'We can't let them shoot, we can't let them turn, we can't let them get the shots off,” said Park Ridge head coach Bobby Meidanis. “But we let them turn, we let them shoot and we let them get their shots off and that was the difference. Those shots that that kid [deOliviera] were awesome shots, two of them were unsavable balls pinned in the upper corner, but we let them get those shots off. They did a great job and I think that says more about them as players than about us because we are a pretty good defensive team.”

deOliviera added an assist when a rocked hit he in the 73rd minute crashed into the left post before being followed home by Elijah Allen and Jason Miranda scored just one second before the final whistle to put the finishing touches on the win.

“I just wanted to score as early as possible to lead the team and take some of the pressure off and the first goal did that for us,” said deOliviera, who is in his first season playing high school soccer in this country after coming over from Portugal. “For my first year here playing high school soccer this is all I could ask for. I am really proud of my team and we have one more game to win.”

Phillip Costa assisted the first three goals scored by Brearley, which will play New Egypt in the Group 1 final at TCNJ.

That game will come on Sunday in the Group 1 state final against South Jersey champion New Egypt at The College of New Jersey. The Bears have already won the section title for the first time since 2005 and are looking for their first outright Group championship since they shared the title in 1990.

“We are ecstatic to play at TCNJ. We have approached every single game with the same resolve that we are not going to get too excited beforehand, we are just going to play the full 80 minutes and see what the result is at the end,” said McGowan. “The fact that we have been able to do that, that we have been able concentrate on all the little things that it takes to be successful is gratifying and we'll try to make it one more step.”

This was the last step for Park Ridge (17-7), but the Owls have plenty to be proud of after the best season in the boys soccer program's history. The Owls won their first ever state sectional championship and did it with a spirited rush that saw them go from a third place league finish to a team that won 10 of its final 11 regular season games and then kept a clean sheet in all four playoff games on the way to the North 1, Group 1 title. It was a disappointing finish, but an overwhelming success of a season.

“I am not going to harp on this game. We had a positive, awesome year and they should be proud of themselves. I am sure that they are going to say to themselves that they ended like this and missed an opportunity to go to the state final and that is true, but not many teams put themselves in this position to begin with,” said Meidanis. “For us to end our season with a 17-7 record, win our our state sectional final against a tough Wallington team in Wallington on their field, not let up a goal in all of the playoffs until tonight and win 10 of our last 11 games even before the playoffs, we got hot at the right time. With all of the seniors we have on this team I think they realize how far they have come since they were freshmen and sophomores.”

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