September
28, 2004
LYNDHURST - The Lyndhurst boys soccer team was excited coming into this week as the Bears saw perennial powerhouses Wallington and Harrison at the tail end of a defining week. But the Bears first had to take care of a stingy Weehawken club and it appeared they were on their way to another win as they scored twice late in the first half to take a 2-1 lead into intermission. Unfortunately for the Bears, Weehawken's Carlos Palacios had something to say about it.
Palacios simply took over for a short stretch in the second half, netting three goals in a six-minute span to snap a 2-2 tie en route to a four-goal performance and a 6-3 upset.
"This is the best game I've ever had at putting the ball in the back of the net," said Palacios, a junior forward. "The most important thing is we didn't come out with our heads down. We knew our defense would make the adjustments and step up. Every team focuses on Larry (Avila) and so did Lyndhurst, so I had to be a threat to score. I did that about as well as I could today."
Palacios got Weehawken on the scoreboard first off a feed from Avila, but Lyndhurst continued to knock on the door and finally broke through in the 33rd minute.
After Lyndhurst's J.J. Ferrie hit the crossbar, Jordan Ramos' header missed the open net and went over the bar. Ramos needed less than a minute for redemption as he put one past Sam Silver to knot the score at 1.
With just under a minute to play in the half, Mehmet Guvener served a ball from 60 yards out, right onto the foot of the speedy Ferrie. He quickly touched the ball around Silver and into the open net to give the Bears a one-goal lead at halftime.
"Forty minutes is a long time in soccer to hold a one-goal lead," said Weehawken head coach Tim Gordon. "We feel our offense is capable of scoring against anyone if we can control play in the midfield. Sometimes we play a little too pretty and they just outhustled us for those two goals at the end of the half. We were more physical in the second half, we played our hearts out, and Carlos (Palacios) alleviated the pressure we were feeling by just putting the ball on the back of the net."
The Indian offense that was dormant for a 20-minute stretch, spanning both halves, began to come alive by winning 50/50 balls. Edwin Salguero won one in the midfield and popped a pass over the sweeper's head and into the box. Avila ran onto it and headed it past a charging Joe Scardino to tie the game at two.
"I saw the defense relax a little bit and I just wanted to get to it before the keeper did," said Avila. "We never give up on a ball and I knew if I could get to it before the goalie did, that it was going in. Once we tied the game up, I knew we were going to find a way to win"
That way was on the feet of Palacios, who simply took over the game. First, he collected a loose ball and put it past Scardino to give the Indians the lead for good in the 61st minute.
Then he knocked down Alfonso Echanique's blast in the box and booted it into an open net for a 4-2 lead. Just two minutes later, he collected another loose ball and hit a bending left-footed shot into the back of the net to all but put the game away at 5-2.
Lyndhurst had plenty of fight left and scored with six minutes to play when Joe Escobar's corner kick curved off of Silver's hands and past the goal line to trim the lead to 5-3.
But that goal did not stop the Indian offense, which quickly struck back with one of their own. On a pretty play, Luis Best beat a defender in the corner and sent a perfect cross to Angel Sanabriga, who headed it in for the final margin.
"I think we kind of got sucked into their physical style in the second half and it took us right out of our game," said Lyndhurst head coach Joe Maffei. "This is a tough loss because we felt we could have played much better, but we will have to regroup, learn something from this loss, and move forward."
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