Tuesday, November 4, 2014

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Ridgewood keeper Stephen Concilio making one of his two saves in the penalty kick shootout that gave the Maroons an upset of second-seeded Clifton in the first round of the North 1, Group 4 playoffs.

CLIFTON – Coming into the season, Ridgewood's boys soccer team felt it had all the pieces in place to make a run in both the Bergen County and state tournaments. Throughout the course of a long soccer season, sometimes things just do not seem to go a certain team's way. The Maroons did not qualify for the counties and barely snuck in as the No. 15 seed in the state sectional tournament.

With that berth came a chance to wipe the slate clean and have a fresh start. Doing it against perennial power Clifton on its home field to keep the season alive would be no easy task, but as the game went into overtime and then into a penalty-kick shootout, the confidence of the Ridgewood players grew exponentially and it culminated in one of the biggest upsets in program history.

Stephen Concilio made two saves in the penalty-kick round and Jack Suriano drilled the winning PK as 15th seeded Ridgewood pulled of a shocking 1-0 (4-1 in PKs) upset of No. 2 seed Clifton on Monday in the first round of the North 1, Group 4 state tournament at Clifton Stadium.

“This is crazy to win a game like this, but we've worked really hard and we had a great week of practice coming in so we felt confident that we could pull it off,” said Concilio.

Playing on a wide field usually is a huge advantage for the technically sound Clifton side. On this day though, it was Ridgewood that took advantage of it early with two quality scoring chances inside the game's first 12 minutes. On a set piece, Suriano made a dummy run and then got a pass back from Johnny Conheeney to get loose inside the box. Clifton keeper Mark Glodava had to charge off of his line to make a sliding save. Then just over two minutes later, Dean Anzalone ripped a left-footed shot from a tough angle that was saved and the ball bounced right to teammate Stephen Chiaramonte, but Glodava went to the ground again to make the second save.

Mark Glodava made 8 saves for Clifton, which finished with a 14-4 record.

Clifton answered back with a pair of scoring opportunities in close proximity, including its best one of the entire match in the 18th minute. Brian Semorile bent a 25-yard shot that seemed destined for the upper right-hand corner, but Concilio got a good break on the ball and made a spectacular diving one-handed save to push it wide of the post as the teams remained scoreless heading into the second half.

The Mustangs appeared to finally have their legs underneath them and had two more scoring chances in the first 10 minutes of the half. Peter Blazon toe-poked a shot past Concilio, but it trickled just wide of the left post. A few minutes later, fullback Romario DePalmar made a 70-yard run with the ball up the left side and sent a pass to the back post, only to see Matt Miller's shot smothered by Concilio.

From that point on, it was all Ridgewood for the remainder of regulation with Suriano and Conheeney controlling play in the middle of the field along with a solid defensive effort along the back line. All of the Maroons' hard work looked like it was going pay in the final seconds as Suriano cracked a shot on net from 10 yards out. Glodava reacted quickly and punched the ball away with the two teams heading to overtime.

The teams each had one soft shot on goal in the two overtime periods, which meant that after 100 minutes of scoreless play, they would need a penalty-kick shootout to decide who advanced and who's season would come to an unfortunate end.

“It's a tough way to decide a winner, but it is what it is and you have to give Ridgewood the credit for keeping us off the scoreboard,” said Clifton head coach Stan Lembryk. “Their goalie made a couple of great saves, especially that one-handed save in the first half. If we score there, the entire course of the game changes dramatically. But for the most part, they were able to keep us in neutral for most of the game instead of constantly attacking. Ridgewood deserves all the credit though. They are a battle-tested team and are about as tough of a No. 15 seed as you could possibly see in the first round.”

Jack Suriano scored the clinching PK for Ridgewood, which will play Morristown in the quarterfinals.

The tone was set on the first shooter for each team. Conheeney calmly stepped up for Ridgewood and ripped a shot into the lower right-hand corner. Then, on Clifton's first shot, Concilio dove to his right and made the save. That not only gave Ridgewood a little cushion to work with, but it also put the pressure on the heavily-favored Mustangs.

“I tried to read the shooter's hips the best that I can and was able to make that first save,” said Concilio. When I saw his body closed and his hips didn't open up that he was probably going to my right. I knew once I got that save that we had the momentum.”

Shunichi Higashimai and Chiaramonte both also scored in the lower right-hand corner, which was followed by a second save diving to his right for Concilio. That left Suriano, one of the senior captains, to step up to the ball with a chance to win it. Even though there were a mixture of nerves and sheer adrenaline running throughout his body, Suriano looked as calm as could be before taking the biggest shot of his life.

After watching his three teammates score in the exact same spot, Suriano ripped a shot to the opposite corner and Glodava had no chance as Suriano dropped to his knees knowing that his shot had just sent Ridgewood to its biggest win of the season and one of the biggest in the program's recent history.

“I had a good week of practicing penalties throughout practice and I was confident in my shot,” said Suriano. “I noticed all of our first three shots went to the right. I had the feeling the goalie was going to lean that way for my shot, so I stepped up to the ball knowing I was going to the left.”

Ridgewood held a 14-11 edge in shots and Concilio finished with eight saves, including two in the shootout for Ridgewood (6-9-3). Sweeper Charlie Cardew, Nick Bigger, Luke Eckles, and Charlie Benjamin were rock solid in the back, keeping the Mustangs off the scoreboard for the full 100 minutes of regulation and overtime. Glodava also finished with eight saves for Clifton, whose season came to a close with a 14-4 record.

Ridgewood moves onto the North 1, Group 4 quarterfinals where it will face seventh-seeded Morristown, a 3-1 winner over Belleville. Interestingly enough, Morristown pulled the biggest upset in the state tournament last year when, as the No. 16 seed, they shocked the Bergen County champ and top seed in North 2, Group 3, Cliffside Park. The Colonials made it to the semifinals before losing 1-0 to eventual section champ Chatham. Ridgewood is hoping to make a similar upset-laden run.

“We didn't have the season we had hoped to have, but we were in a great position coming into this game,” added Suriano. “As coach (Joe Gyulay) said that it's a privilege to be here and that we want to be here and want to win, rather than just having to be here. It's a do-or-die situation, but we found a way to win and we're very happy to be together as a team for another day.”

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