Wednesday, November 19, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

BRIDGEWATER – With the 20 teams that were left in the boys’ soccer state tournament heading into Tuesday, no two opposing teams knew each other better than River Dell and Cliffside Park. The teams split their regular season meetings and subsequently shared the BCSL-American Division championship. Last night, they got to meet one more time in the last of a three-round bout between two of Bergen County’s welterweights with a berth in the Group 2 state final on the line.

This game had even more of a championship feel to it because it was in fact a championship game to these two sides. It was for the championship of each other.

While the two teams balanced each other out in many ways, Cliffside Park had one clear advantage coming into this game. It had already been where River Dell was treading for the first time. Cliffside Park lost its Group 2 semifinal game last year against Ramsey on the same field at Bridgewater-Raritan High School, but this time they were more determined to go home with a different outcome.

Cliffside Park clung to a 1-0 with just under 10 minutes to play when a River Dell header nearly tied the game. Instead, the ball hit the crossbar and was cleared away. The Red Raiders went on the counterattack and Pepe Fabrizio scored on a rebound to put the finishing touches on a 2-0 Cliffside Park win over River Dell in the Group 2 semifinals.

“We knew them well, they knew us well, it just came down to who played better,” said Serkan Seyrek, Cliffside’s senior defender.. “We were here last year and I think we were honestly just happy to be here. Not this time, we wanted to come in with a different mentality and we were more hungry than we were last year. We have been such a focused team all year and we had to be even more focused tonight. I think we’re really clicking as a team and we wanted this one.”

The Red Raiders had a stiff wind in their face during the first half, but that did not make much of a difference in their wresting control of play, largely by two-touching and playing the ball on the ground in order to maintain possession. Although they did not score in the first half, neither did River Dell and Cliffside was creating scoring chances and setting the pace.

With the wind at their backs for the second half, the Red Raiders wasted little time in pushing forward. They nearly scored less than three minutes into the second stanza. Wonderson Silva’s floating shot was tipped by River Dell keeper Kevin Blankrot off the crossbar and right to CP #8 in front of a wide open goal. But his shot was cleared away on a marvelous sliding play at the goal line River Dell Carl Losito. Undaunted, however, Cliffside scored just 90 seconds later.

Off of a corner kick from Kazim Uyaraglu, the ball was bent into the box and Blankrot got his gloves on it, but the rebound bounced right to Santiago Pazmino, who tucked his shot inside the near post to give Cliffside Park a 1-0 lead.

The Raiders would have padded their lead midway through the second half if not for another great defensive play from Losito. His sliding stop knocked away a sure goal from Pazmino to keep the Hawks within striking distance.

With just under 10 minutes remaining, the Hawks had their only true scoring opportunity of the match. Off of a cross, a header by Ryan McVeigh beat Cliffside Park goaltender Pedro Sanchez, but hit the post flush and was cleared out of danger. With River Dell rightfully pushing forward to try and get the equalizing goal, the Red Raiders had numbers on the counterattack.

Sophomore standout Exau Paz took on a defender, then curved a shot around the outstretched arms of Blankrot. The ball bounced off the right post and trickled along the goal line before Fabrizio tapped it in to secure Cliffside Park’s first-ever berth in a state final.

“We’ve been getting bounces in our favor all year and this one we didn’t get,” said River Dell head coach Kevin Sabella. “We were getting outplayed, but we played tough until the end and that’s why it was a close game because of how hard we fought. Cliffside Park is such a strong team on the counterattack that they are a tough team to hold off. Tonight, they were the better team. But either way, I think we both represented out league extremely well all season and I’m sure (Cliffside Park) will do a great job in the state finals down at (The College of New Jersey).”

Cliffside Park held a 19-6 advantage in shots and 5-2 in corner kicks. Sanchez needed to make just one save for the shutout. Blankrot made several outstanding saves among his 10 for River Dell, which finished the season with a 17-4-2 record.

Cliffside Park advances to the Group 2 final on Saturday at Hillsborough High School. They will take on Central Jersey champ and perennial power Delran, a 4-2 winner over Middle Township, at 4:00 to determine the state champ.

Red Raiders’ head coach Jim Fucci knows how important the next game is to his team and the Cliffside program. But he also knows how to keep the game in perspective.

“This win is big for everything that everyone has gone through at Cliffside Park over the past few months,” said Fucci referring to the death of Cliffside Park football player Douglas Morales who was gravely injured during a pre-season football drill. “We’re playing for something bigger than a state title. We’re playing for him, we’re playing for his family, we’re playing for the community, we’re playing for the athletic program, and we’re playing for history. Last year, we were satisfied with just winning our section. This time, we want it all.”

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