Friday, October 8, 2010

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Senior Harrison Meyer scored three minutes before halftime and it was enough to get Demarest past Garfield, 1-0, in the opening round of the Bergen County Tournament.

DEMAREST – Sometimes the best player on the field or on a particular team sticks out like a sore thumb. He’s the guy with the ball on his feet most of the time or the guy that his teammates are trying to force the ball to regardless of how tightly he is marked. But for Northern Valley/Demarest, that guy is nowhere to be found. That is not to say that Demarest does not have any standout players, but rather that the Norsemen play as a collective unit and the individuals stand out by fitting in.

“Coming into today I think we had four or five players that each scored two goals and nobody has more than two goals on the season. We spread it around, we move it around because we don’t have to play through anybody to be effective,” said Demarest head coach Jon Gray. “Our motto is to share it, to move it and if you don’t have the opportunity, give it to the next guy. We have some seniors that buy into that and some juniors that are very talented.”

Brandon Pacheco had one of Garfield's best chances three minutes into the second half.

That talent was on display against Garfield on Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the Bergen County Tournament as the Norseman controlled possession for most of the first 40 minutes, converted a chance late in the first half and had everyone involved. Only problem was that Garfield refused to fold and that fact set up an interesting second half as No. 15 Demarest was forced to sweat out its 1-0 win that moves it into Sunday’s Round of 16 matchup against second seeded Cliffside Park.

The game’s lone goal was the product of solid passing in the midfield. Mark Krasnik played a ball from the middle of the field wide right to Eric Geider, who took a touch on the defensive side of defender. Harrison Meyer ran onto an advantageous situation with the ball at his foot and a defender on his back. Garfield keeper Piotr Kopec, who was outstanding in net from start to finish, did what he could, but Meyer stayed composed and slotted the ball to the right of the sliding goalie for the lone tally just 3:01 before halftime.

“We were switching the field and the ball got to [Geider] and their whole defense was shifted over. The ball got over and I made my run through,” said Meyer, Demarest’s senior striker. “It was a good ball and I just had to slip it past the goalie.”

Demarest keeper Andrew Zagin made three saves, two of the difficult variety.

Demarest nearly doubled its lead just 1:30 later and got unlucky on its attempt. Dan Korman made fancy run into the corner, came to a stop and put the ball on a tee for Sevag Kherlopian, who took a shot with his first touch. Kherlopian’s screamer hit the crossbar flush and bounced out, Meyer’s follow header in traffic sailed high and Garfield got off the field for halftime trailing by just a goal despite not having a real scoring opportunity. That changed after the break.

For most of the first half, Demarest keeper Andrew Zagin operated mostly as an extra fullback playing the middle of the field who could be used by his defensive partners as a safety valve and a shortcut toward switching the angle of attack. But the Boilermakers made him play his more traditional role on two decisive plays after halftime, the first one coming less than three minutes in.

Garfield’s Roberto Marin sent in the Boilermakers’ most dangerous striker, junior Brandon Pacheco, and he went in 1-v-1 against Zagin, who read the play and charged off his line. Zagin went low and closed the distance enough to smother Pacheco’s shot as soon as it left his foot.

Piotr Kopec finished with 10 saves for Garfield.

“I was a little nervous when I saw [Pacheco] coming in and I guess I got a little lucky. He hit it kind of close to me and I just had to react and knock it away,” said Zagin. “Our defense is really good so I know coming into any game that [the other team] is only going to get a couple of opportunities, so I just have to stay focused when the ball comes my way and be ready.”

The ball game Zagin’s way one more time in a do-or-die situation and it came with just over 19 minutes to play. A quick counter put Marin in alone on an angle moving right. Zagin forced Marin to push wider than he would have liked and cut the angle to the point that there was only one line to the net and Zagin was in the middle of it. His second tough save, the last of the three he made in the game, kept his team in front and from there the Norsemen regained their offensive touch. Although it could have made the final 19 minutes much more comfortable by cashing one of the numerous chances it generated, Demarest’s best defense down the stretch was to continually push the ball forward.

“We played well; we just didn’t convert our opportunities. We had that first breakaway, but the keeper made a nice save on it and we had another opportunity that we couldn’t put in the back of the net,” said Garfield head coach Mark Pielko, whose team fell to 5-3-1 on the season. “But Demarest is a very good team, they are a Group 3 school with talent, and we are a Group 2 school now, so we’ll take we did out here and use it as a learning experience for the states.”

Demarest's Eric Geider about to strike the pass that led to the game's lone goal.

Demarest’s Justin Marko was a half-step away from a 2-0 goal lead when he went in hard after a second touch that was spoiled by Kopec’s sliding save in the midst of a collision, Dan Endo hustle saved a ball from going over the endline and his cross in the area connected with Jay Lee’s foot, but his volley met the right post in the 66th minute.

Endo and Dan Korman worked a pretty give-and-go on the right side in the 71st minute, but Kopec closed down the near post on Endo’s rip and he made two more quality saves inside the final two minutes, one on a Kherlopian blast and the other on a hard-hit knuckler struck by Sam Salmirs from near the 18. Kopec finished with 10 saves, few of them easy, to keep his team in the game.

With Demarest’s numerous chances, it final margin could have been a wider one. Had Garfield turned one of its counterattacks, it could have spelled overtime. The end result, however, was a Demarest (5-2-1) win and a trip to the Round of 16.

“It’s cliché, but in any tournament it is all about survive and advance. Next up is Cliffside Park and that is going to be no picnic, but we are happy to have the opportunity to play them,” said Gray, who is in his sixth season as Demarest’s head coach and has the Norseman back on the rise. “We’ve been in very competitive leagues and I thought we had a good team last year. But in the [old] NBIL that good team was 6-8-1, last year’s record. I think we are getting back to what Demarest was accustomed to, but not yet. We have a tough one on Sunday.”

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