Tuesday,
November 4, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Zach Senick scored the game's first goal and assisted on another as 7th-seeded Old Tappan beat No. 10 Sparta, 3-0, in the opening round of the North 1, Group 3 state sectional tournament. |
OLD TAPPAN – After getting off to a rough start in the ultra competitive Big North Conference, the Northern Valley/Old Tappan boys soccer team kind of fell off the radar screen. A .500 record through seven games of the season meant the Golden Knights were not included in the Bergen County Tournament, the event where good teams showcase their best players to the widest possible audience.
But instead of giving up hope, Old Tappan kept at it under Mark Torrie, who is in his first season as the Knights' head coach after coming over from rival Northern Valley/Demarest.
“We just had to keep going. We started 3-3-1 and since then we are 9-3. We've made some changes and we have shown some growth since the start of the season and that is the point,” said Torrie. “I am just glad the boys have gotten to see the work they do in training pay off. They are seeing the fruits of their labor.”
The latest peach was a 3-0 win over Sparta on Monday afternoon in the opening round of the North 1, Group 3 state sectional tournament. Instead of its season winding down, Old Tappan is just revving up as it will host River Dell in the state sectional quarterfinals on Thursday and then play Demarest on Saturday in the final of the Bergen Cup.
The win also keeps alive the intra-squad battle between Team Gleason and Team Walsh, a season long challenge that has helped keep the Knights motivated. Although the exact rules and scoring system are murky, they are taken seriously by Tyler Walsh and Tim Gleason, the senior co-captains and challenge creators.
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Old Tappan senior Tyler Walsh scored a goal, but is still behind in the Team Walsh vs. Team Gleason intra-squad challenge. |
“We had a team barbeque before the season started and we had a draft, I'd choose a person and he'd choose a person. The points are based off of game performances and every day in practice we have have a challenge,” said Walsh. “It's a friendly competition that keeps practice competitive and keeps us motivated.”
Old Tappan is now 12-6-1 on the season, so where does the challenge stand after 19 games?
“It was good to get the shutout today because every time we get a shutout it is a lot of points for my team, Team Gleason, and right now I think we are winning by like 1,000 points,” said Gleason, OT's central defender. “It goes in increments of 50 so the lead is healthy.”
If the state playoffs games provide bonus points, then Team Walsh is still in it because the seventh-seeded Golden Knights have at least one more to play after dispatching of No. 10 Sparta rather comfortably.
Zachary Senick just missed on a chance in front in the first minute, but got the game's first goal not too long after. He got in behind two defenders on the right side and before they could close the gap, Senick shot back across the face of goal and inside the left post to give his team the lead for good in the 14th minute.
“They were playing with a flat back line and there was a lot of space in behind. I saw a little gap and made a run and Louis Long found me. I took a little touch around the goalie and shot,” said Senick, a senior midfielder. “We have been doing a good job lately on keeping the ball in our possession and opening up the defense. We are having a lot of fun now. We know that any one of these [state] games could be the last one we play together as a team, so we want to keep it going as long as we can.”
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Junior Chris Lee scored a goal for Old Tappan, which will host River Dell in the sectional quarterfinals on Thursday. |
Old Tappan doubled its lead in the 30th minute when Conor Kelly held off a defender in the box and then slid the ball to his right for Chris Lee, the junior striker who knew what to do with the open look. Lee finished into the lower left for the 2-0 lead.
Sparta's best chance to get back in the game came two minutes later when Ed Weaver chipped one forward to AJ Espinosa, whose half volley was well struck but also just wide to the left. A great save by Sparta keeper Ben Insley, who raced out to break up a 1-v-1 chance, kept the Spartans within 2-0 at the half, but Old Tappan kept the pressure on straight out of the break.
Bradley Besserer hit the spot where the crossbar meets the post just two minutes into the second half and Walsh sent in Senick for a rip inside the box that was only kept out by a sparkler from Scott Altieri, who came on in the Sparta goal after halftime. Altieri got his hands up in front of his face in a hurry to rob Senick of a second goal.
Instead it was Walsh who put the cherry on top with a goal 22 minutes before the final whistle when he got in up the right, drew the keeper out and then slotted home to polish the final score.
River Dell's upset of West Essex gives Old Tappan the quarterfinal home game, but the pool gets pretty deep now. The Golden Hawks have a habit of making upset runs through the state tournament and after that the likes of Ramapo and Northern Highlands, the two Bergen County Tournament finalists, and Tenafly lurk in the loaded North 1, Group 3 bracket.
It will be an interesting week for Old Tappan as it tries to get to the semifinals and then win the Bergen Cup. Its opponent there will be Northern Valley/Demarest, its sister school and the team that Torrie coached last season.
“It's like Murphy's Law,” said Torrie, whose new program is 2-0 against his old program this season. “It had to happen and I know the boys are looking forward to it.”
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