Monday,
October 27, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Danny Aversano scored twice for Northern Highlands, which stayed unbeaten and advanced to the Bergen County final with a 3-0 win over Bergen Catholic on Sunday in Ridgewood. |
RIDGEWOOD – Northern Highlands does not have that one player who is going to beat three defenders with fancy footwork and then goes to goal and scores that one that will wind up on youtube. It's more of a collective effort for the Highlanders, but that does not mean that the goals they do score are not pretty. In fact, there were subtleties in all three that they netted in a shutout of Bergen Catholic on Sunday in the semifinals of the Bergen County Tournament that showed just how good a grasp of the game that the Highlanders really have.
The 3-0 win at Ridgewood High School showed off Highlands complete range of skills and also its toughness as the game got chippy in the second half.
The first goal was about hustle and technique as Joshua Burshtein burst out of the pack in front of the net to track down a loose ball off a restart that cleared the pile in the box. That Burshtein got there in time to keep the ball in play was impressive enough, the technique part came into play when he got his hips around the ball and played it back for Zain Khanna, who kept it moving for Mike Park, who then provided the service that Danny Aversano turned into a shot on goal.
While all that was going on, Burshtein had hustled his way back into the play and was right there to tap-in the rebound for a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
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Stephen Teitelbaum and Bergen Catholic had been one of the hottest teams in the county coming off last week's win over defending champion Cliffside Park. |
“The first goal is always so important because it motivates the team to keep going in search of more,” said Burshtein. “The fact that I scored is good for me, but I don't care who scores because it is about the team and I work for the team. I will do whatever I can to for the team's success not for myself.”
There were two Burshteins involved in goal No. 2 as the senior twins helped double the advantage in the 19th minute. This time it was Aaron Burshstein who moved up from the back save a ball near the corner flag and then hit a winding cross that made it all the way to the back post were Joshua settled it and set it on a tee for Aversano, who ripped one off Bergen Catholic keeper Michael Payan and in for the 2-0 lead.
“We talked bout getting off to a fast start because we knew that Bergen likes to possess [the ball] and we wanted to get up on them right away. We had to get up the field because we did not want to invite their pressure,” said Aversano. “Right away we took it straight to them and we gave everything. The first goal set the tone and from there we just kept coming with wave after wave of attack.”
Bergen Catholic, which had been playing as well as any team in the county coming into the game and having knocked off defending champion Cliffside Park in last weekend's quarterfinal round, found itself behind by two goals less than halfway through the first half, but had a chance to get back in it with two golden chances in a five minute span. With the Highlands defense marking Miles Franklin up top and running another defender in behind, the Crusaders' sophomore striker turned distributor as dropped a pass for Stephen Teitelbaum, whose first time strike finished high and wide in the 29th minute. In the 34th minute, Owen Kraft had a look after a scramble in front of the net, but his free header also went wide.
Instead of closing the gap before the half, BC fell further behind when it committed a foul just inside its defensive half in the middle of the field. Highlands showed its strength on restarts when Park played the ball over the crowd on a diagonal left, and Joshua Burshtein timed his run perfectly to stay onside and still be able to track it down near the post before rolling the ball across the 6 for Aversano, who walked it in to make it 3-0 in the 37th minute.
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Joshua Burshtein and top-seeded Highlands will play Ramapo in Friday night's Bergen County final. |
Still undefeated, Highlands put on a clinic of unselfishness and finishing prowess against one of the best opponents that Bergen County has to offer. The second half devolved a bit as BC realized that its chance of advancing was slipping away, but Highlands did not back down. Senior keeper Alec Lam made a couple of quality saves and picked up one of the three second half yellow cards handed out as the Highlanders held their ground and held on to their shutout.
“You can see that my guys were into it. Number 5 [Zain] Khanna is a man, my outside back [Paul] Garbarini is a man. They gave us their best shot, they punched and we punched back. That was how this game was played,” said Highlands head coach Sean Devore, who was speaking conceptually as no punches were actually thrown. “We scored our goals, we defended well and we got the 'W' and that is all that really matters at this point of the season.”
So now it is on to the final where Ramapo awaits. Highlands has won the two regular season matches, but there will be a different energy this time around as to the victor goes the Bergen County championship.
“For my money it is the best rivalry in all of New Jersey soccer. We have played twice already and either team could have won each game,” said Devore. “They will be ready, we will be ready and it will be Round 3. Everybody is excited for it."
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