PHOTO BY ANDREW GARDA/STAFF
by Andrew Garda
garda@montclairlocal.news
KEARNY—Friday night the Montclair High School boys soccer team fought through a physical and skilled Kearny team as well as frigid temperatures, but came up short in penalty kicks to lose the NJSIAA North Jersey 1, Group 4 championship.
It was tough loss for the Mounties, but head coach Toure Weaver made sure they didn’t hang their heads.
“All season long, every single guy — guys who played 80 minutes a game, guys who didn’t step on the field — every day guys came in to work, gave everything to this,” he said after the loss. “I just told them I was really proud of them.”
The first half had MHS feeling pretty good overall, as senior Jalen Anderson beat Kearny keeper Bryan Noristz on a penalty kick with about 30 minutes left. The Mounties kept pressure up, just missing on several other chances as well.
Then with four minutes left, Kearny’s Cristian Villegas fired off a shot from long distance. MHS keeper Rowan O’Brien dropped to his knees to get the ball, which squirted through his legs and rolled slowly into the net.
The second half saw a lot of pressure from both sides, with Kearny and Montclair both just missing on several shots, and both keepers coming up big to preserve the tie.
PHOTO BY ANDREW GARDA
As time went on, though, the Mounties started to look a bit fatigued as the relentless Kardinals attack kept grinding at them.
“We got a little tired,” Weaver said. “Sometimes that fatigue sets in and you can’t make those different supporting runs and supporting movements. It got to us. But even with that, the guys kept working all night long.”
As MHS got more tired, they also seemed to get away from their usual game of ball movement and control
“I think we needed to relax sometimes,” Weaver observed. “Put it on the floor a little bit more and play. Sometimes we were trying to play big, but I think we could have settled down a little bit more.”
While Montclair may have spent too much time kicking long balls into the Kearny end, hoping their forwards would make a play, they were still able to pressure the Kardinals frequently.
Still, neither team seemed able to break the tie and soon the game was heading into overtime.
The Mounties came out hard in overtime, attacking Kearny’s offensive zone repeatedly and pressuring the defense. Noristz came up big for Kearny over and over again, and the defense also turned the Mountie rushes aside several times.
Meanwhile, the Kardinals were able to counter the Mounties’ rushes with ones of their own, but were likewise stonewalled by the MHS defense. Even absent Salvador Pliego, the Mounties backline was determined to not let the ball near the goal, and on the odd occasion they did, O’Brien came up big.
PHOTO BY ANDREW GARDA
The first overtime came to a close, and then the second overtime continued on with both teams unable to find the back of the net.
Then Kearny was called for a penalty outside their own box, and it appeared the Mounties were going to get one last good opportunity as the second overtime closed. However while they and Kearny were both set up for a kick, the officials seemed to hold the play and then after some time, whistled overtime done.
Then came the penalty kicks. Kearny made four, while Montclair could only muster two.
While the end of the game was heartbreaking for the players and coaching staff, the Mounties still had a very good season, finishing the year with a 14-2-2 record and a good run in the state playoffs. Now Weaver and his team has to work towards the next year.
“Next season is a whole different year,” Weaver said as he looked ahead. “They can’t just expect to [show up] and it just happens. This good season didn’t just happen by just going through the motions. We had really quality seniors and next year [the] juniors need to step up and realize what it takes to win.”