Sunday, November 22, 2010

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Wallington poses with the Group 1 state championship trophy it won by beating South River, 1-0, on Sunday at TCNJ.

EWING – Wallington has had quite a whirlwind fall season. Between the football team playing for its first section title and the boys’ soccer team playing for an outright Group 1 state title, these are some exciting times in Wallington. The football team used the big leg of senior Marcin Koc to boot a game-winning field goal in the final minute on Saturday to advance to the North 1, Group 1 final.

On Sunday, it was another strong-legged senior that came through. Only this time, it was on the pitch and it gave the Panthers a piece of history that nobody can take away from them.

Konrad Plewa bent a shot through traffic and inside the right post with 5:53 left in the first half. Led by goalie David Podliesicki and sweeper Matt Tchorz, the Panthers’ defense did the rest to lift Wallington to its first-ever Group 1 state title with a 1-0 win over South River at The College of New Jersey in Ewing.

Konrad Plewa scored the one goal that Wallington needed to win its first-ever Group 1 state title.

“For our eight seniors, they deserved this for their hard work,” said Wallington head coach Mike Fromfield. “After we lost in the state last year (in the Group 1 semifinals to eventual co-champs Dayton Regional), our goal was to make it down here and win it once we got here. I was fortunate to coach such great players who are great kids as well. They deserve to be champions.”

The Panthers got off to a slow start against Glen Ridge in the Group 1 semifinals, before coming alive en route to a 4-0 win. Although they did not find the back of the net early against South River either, the complexion of the game was different as only several great saves, including one on a breakaway by Wallington’s high-scoring Tomek Kwiatkowski, from South River keeper Dave Rondesko kept the game scoreless.

Rondesko did all he could to keep his team in it, but there was nothing he could do to stop an absolutely perfect strike from Plewa. He took a centering pass from Michael Kubik and turned between two defenders. With just enough room to shoot and Rondesko screened by traffic in front of the net, Plewa never hesitated in ripping the biggest shot of his career. It somehow got in between two South River players and bent inside the right post to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead with just under six minutes to play in the first half.

“When I hit the shot I didn’t know if it was going in or not, but I knew that I hit the ball pretty well,” said Plewa. “I was just hoping to get off a shot and not get it blocked. When it got through the defenders in front of the net, I knew it had a chance to go in.”

The momentum from Plewa’s goal carried over well into the second half as the Panthers appeared in complete control. But the reality was that they were only up by a goal and one play could have changed everything, and it nearly did on a clever maneuver by South River’s Michael Parillo. He faked a direct kick to shift the defense and instead hit teammate Sebastian Garzon with a pass in the box. Garzon turned and fired, but Podliesicki charged out to make a diving save. The ball popped loose, but Podliesicki quickly got up and dove on the loose ball before any South River player could get to it.

David Podliesecki made five saves to keep a clean sheet for Wallington.

That was the last shot Podliesicki had to face as time finally ran out and Wallington had its first-ever Group 1 state championship.

“It is such an amazing feeling to be state champs,” said Podliesicki, who made five saves. “I knew my defense had my back and once Konrad (Plewa) scored, it was up to us to do our job and keep them off the scoreboard.”

Wallington capped the best season in school history with a 23-2 mark and a state title. Including a dominant state tournament where the Panthers outscored their opponents by a whopping margin of 20-1. Between the Panthers winning a state title yesterday and going for a section title in football in two weeks, the teams have fed off of one another’s success and life is good in Wallington.

“This is honestly like a dream come true,” added Plewa. “To win a state title as a senior in front of a big crowd and score the game-winner is something I’ll take with me forever. We have a lot of pride in Wallington and it’s nice to see the football team and fans cheering for us just as we cheer for them. It’s a lot of fun to be a big part of all of this and I’ll remember this experience for the rest of my life.”

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