Wednesday, November 17, 2010

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Cliffside Park celebrated its 3-2 win over Glen Rock in the Group 2 state semifinals on Thursday night at Millburn High School.

MILLBURN – There was one sequence that perfectly illustrated the back-and-forth flow of Thursday night’s Group 2 state semifinal between Cliffside Park and Glen Rock. Not only did that one sequence provide a snapshot of what the other 79-and-a-half minutes, it also decided the outcome of what was an instant classic, a game between two evenly matched teams with their seasons on the line.

It was punch-counter punch all night long, and it was, literally, how the game was decided. Tied with under four minutes to play in regulation, a rolling cross was played to Glen Rock’s Maxx Wurzburger in what would not have been a dangerous position for most high school players. The ball was skidding along the turf from left to right and most players would have done well just to edge it forward into the box and hope a teammate could make something out of it.

But as one of the top strikers in Bergen County, Wurzburger did much more than that. He one-timed a rip that was hit so hard that it was knuckling as it cut through the wind toward the inside of the right post. On the other end of the blast was Pedro Sanchez, one of Bergen County’s best goalkeepers. It was a mini game of 1-v-1 inside the larger context of a state semifinal and rather than try to catch the shot, Sanchez got two fists up and punched the ball back toward where it came from.

Before anyone could fully realize just how close Glen Rock had come to a game-winner, the counter attack was in full swing the other way. Sanchez’s punch carried toward the midfield where Cliffside’s Sebastain Zapata ran on to it, directed traffic and moved the ball to Sebastian Castrillon with an eye on senior Joe Han, who later found himself with one chance, do-or-die.

Glen Rock's Maxx Wurzburger lining up the rip that nearly gave Glen Rock a lead seconds before Cliffside Park scored the game-winner.

Han picked the perfect time and the perfect place to score his first goal of the season. He hit the roof from the middle of the box with 2:53 remaining in regulation to give Cliffside Park a 3-2 win and a spot in Sunday’s Group 2 state final opposite Haddon Heights.

“I was defending No. 8 [Mike Dwyer], but as soon as we started going for the counter attack, I started to sprint and I saw Boombah (Zapata’s nickname) tell me to go into the middle,” said Han. “I just went for the space. When I got the ball, I cut once and took the shot. After I took the shot I fell, so I didn’t know if it was going in or out. But when I heard everybody screaming, I just thought, “Thank God, I just scored.”

He did and Cliffside Park improved to 23-1 on the season and moved to within one win of the program’s first unshared and outright state championship.

“You heard of Johnny-On-The-Spot, well he was Joey-On-The-Spot,” said Cliffside head coach Jim Fucci. “I didn’t even see it materialize. I was talking to a guy when we were running in, I looked up real quick and I saw him on the 6. I just said ‘Please put it in.’ He hasn’t been there all year, but he put it in. Good for him.”

Good for Han and Cliffside, heartbreaking for Glen Rock, which was coming off its first state sectional title since 1991 and was every bit the worthy opponent for Cliffside, which had just won its fourth straight sectional crown. The Panthers had an answer for just about everything Cliffside Park kicked at them at Millburn High School, erasing two one-goal deficits and coming within an inch or two of a go-ahead goal in the 78th minute.

Exau Paz gave Cliffside Park the game’s first lead with a blast into the upper shelf before Wurzburger tied the game with a brilliant free kick that brought the Panthers even by halftime. Cliffside retook the lead on a goal by freshman Gabe Donato 13 minutes into the second half, before Glen Rock got even through another Wurzburger gem and a solid finish by Ralph Jerome.

With just under 16 minutes to go in regulation Wurzburger turned his back to the defense to settle a ball played up from the back along the left sideline. His possession consisted of a tap to the middle of the field before he broke into full sprint to take a return pass deep in the corner on the exact opposite side of the field. Wurzburger then rolled in a cross that somehow found its way through a two-man pileup in the middle and eventually to Jerome, whose backside run paid off in the equalizer with 15:36 showing on the second half clock.

Cliffside Park's all-time leading goal scorer, Exau Paz, gave the Red Raiders an early lead.

“We came back twice and it was a great game between two great sides. A 3-2 game that ends with 2:53 left. You hope to be on the positive side of that, but we lost to a great side in a great game,” said Glen Rock head coach Paul Cusack, who team finished with an 18-4-1 record. “I am real proud of my boys. I think they did everything that we asked of them tonight and all season.”

Glen Rock forced Cliffside out of its regular formation that usually includes two strikers, but concessions had to be made against the Panthers, whose organized attack was effective from first to last whistle.

“They got the better of play of the first half, I thought we evened it up in the second half, but only because we dropped an extra midfielder back and played with five in the middle. I don’t think we had an answer for them up top,” said Fucci. “I am sure that coach Cusack doesn’t want to hear it from me right now, but that team is the best team that we have played all year and maybe we were a little bit lucky that the sun was shining on us today. This kind of game is what high school sports are all about. Tremendous respect between the players and coaches and a great game, really a great game of high school soccer.”

FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.