Montclair Kimberley boys soccer falls to Gill St. Bernard’s in state sectional title match

The Montclair Kimberley boys soccer team was hoping to reverse its fortunes last week in the state sectional finals.

Just two weeks before, the Cougars traveled to Gill St. Bernard’s and dropped a 3-0 decision in the Prep B championship game.

Now Montclair Kimberley was getting another shot at Gill St. Bernard's, again on the road, this time for the Non-Public North B title on Nov. 9.

And while the Cougars were close to being 100 percent healthy this time, MKA again gave up goals in bunches and fell, 3-0 again, to the Knights for the state sectional title.

The defeat was a tough pill to swallow, but Montclair Kimberley head coach Robert Leather felt that there was plenty of good to look back upon this season, including winning the Super Essex Conference Liberty Division title as well as reaching both the Prep B and Non-Public North B state sectional championship games.

"After graduating several seniors from last season's team and having several freshmen see time, I thought we had a good year,” Leather said. His team finished with a 12-8-1 mark, with six of the eight losses coming to teams that won a state title.

In the Non-Public North B finals it was a combination of a strong Gill St. Bernard's team and the health of the Cougars.

"They're a very good side," Leather said. "You really have to be at 100 percent to beat them."

In the last couple of weeks, Montclair Kimberley battled the flu and injuries.

While MKA had its top striker, senior Omar Martinez, as well as one of its top young players, sophomore Lucas Furlonge, on the field, both had been dealing with injuries and were not 100 percent in the state sectional final.

Leather said the Knights were quick on the pitch. "I thought we definitely played well in the first half, but we just didn't have the athleticism and speed to keep up with them," the coach said, adding that MKA injuries exacerbated the situation. 

The Cougars defense and sophomore keeper Alex Provost kept Gill St. Bernard's off the scoreboard in the first half. But two set pieces did in Montclair Kimberley in the second half.

The Knights scored all three of their goals in a 15-minute period to start the second half.

In the first three minutes, Gill St. Bernard's Nick Collins scored on a free kick that was to the left of Provost and that he could not reach, as the ball flew just below the crossbar.

The goal put Montclair Kimberley down 1-0 and, for Leather, it sort of broke the back of his team. "It definitely shifted the momentum," he said.

Gill St. Bernard's also scored on another set piece with 23 minutes remaining in the contest off a corner, when Collins smacked it by Provost to make it 3-0.

Earlier in the second half, Knight Max Vogt kicked in a rebound after Provost had to come out and stop Gill St. Bernard's Dan Scali, who had broken through the MKA defense.

"They caught us on a counterattack, and when they scored the game was over," Leather said about the second goal, which came with 25 minutes remaining in the match.

In the Prep B championship game, the Cougars were out of the contest in the first half, when Gill St. Bernard's scored all three of its goals in a six-minute span, 10 minutes into the match.

In the state sectional final it was a much better first half this go-round for Montclair Kimberley. The Cougars came out and controlled the first 10 minutes of the match.

But after that Gill St. Bernard's controlled the possession clock and had several opportunities, while MKA struggled to get an organized attack.