Tuesday, October 6, 2015

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Rene White scored twice, both times in spectacular fashion, as Hawthorne Christian bounced back from its first loss of the season with an impressive 3-0 win on the road at Waldwick on Monday.

WALDWICK – The past 12 months have been quite a ride for the Hawthorne Christian Academy boys soccer team. After winning the first section title in school history in any sport last fall, the Defenders have returned in form this year and have been dominant. After an undefeated preseason slate carried right over into the regular season the Defenders might have been justified if they had started to believe the hype that was building around them.

And then Midland Park happened.

HCA’s first loss of the season was an upset defeat at the hands of the aforementioned Panthers and, while it definitely sting, it might have served the purpose of refocusing the Defenders on only the game at hand. They had built their outstanding start to the season on working together and outhustling the opposition. Finally taking the field again after several days to think about that loss, HCA got a chance to take out its frustrations and against a quality opponent on the road at that.

Rene White scored two highlight-worthy goals and the defense was rock solid as Hawthorne Christian got back to its winning ways and took a big step closer to winning a league title with a 3-0 win over Waldwick on Monday at Waldwick High School.

“We know now that we need to be on our game every game,” said White. “We felt like Midland Park is a team we should have beaten. That might have been good for us though and it was probably good for our egos.”

Eric Newgebauer made eight saves for Waldwick, which had its eight game winning streak snapped.

Waldwick came in on an eight-game winning streak and played with a ton of confidence in the first 10 minutes of the match. The Warriors controlled possession but were not able to get any shots on target. As the half went on, the Defenders started to get comfortable and slowly built up an attack before breaking through in the 27th minute.

White cut in front of a defender with his back to the goal to settle a long cross from Joe Leveroni. With a Waldwick marking back on his hip, White flicked a pass to Will Woodfin and then spun around his mark to get the ball back in a perfectly-executed give-and-go. White poked the ball past charging Waldwick keeper Eric Neugebauer to give Hawthorne Christian a 1-0 lead.

Waldwick's Griffin Price had two chances in the final two minutes of the half to tie the game but both went just over the crossbar as the Defenders maintained the lead.

In the second half, Hawthorne Christian started to impose its will by consistently winning 50-50 balls in the air and bringing them down successfully to secure possession. Then White showed why he is one of North Jersey's most lethal strikers.

He ran onto a through ball from Woodfin, the center mid, just inside the top left corner of the box. White, already the all-time leading scorer at Hawthorne Christian, had the presence of mind to circle around it and rip a left-footed shot that could not have been placed in a better spot. He got enough on the ball to put it just past the diving Neugebauer then off the right post and in to make it 2-0.

“I was going for that far post,” added White. “From that angle the goalie is always going to be at the near post, so that spot is usually going to be open.”

Will Woodfin had a goal and an assist for Hawthorne Christian, which improved to 8-1 on the season.

Woodfin closed it out the festivities by heading home a free kick from Leveroni for the final 3-0 margin.

Clarence Fitchett was fantastic from the center back spot in front of keeper John Williams, who made seven saves to earn the shutout (his 5th of the season) for Hawthorne Christian (8-1). White's two goals give him 16 for the season.

Neugebauer finished with eight saves for Waldwick, which is now 8-2 with both losses coming at the hands of Hawthorne Christian. The Warriors will have to regroup and get ready for a first-round showdown with last year's Bergen County finalist, Northern Highlands, in the Bergen County Tournament this Sunday.

“I think this game will prepare us well for the counties because of how direct Hawthorne Christian plays,” said Waldwick head coach Jon Nochese. “We're really excited to be in the Bergen County Tournament. Last time we lost to (Hawthorne Christian) we won eight in a row. So we're hoping to go on a run again.”

For Hawthorne Christian this win was big on multiple levels. It opened up a two-game lead in the league and gave the Defenders some momentum heading into their Passaic County quarterfinal match against Passaic. While very talented, this senior class has never advanced past the quarterfinal round in the Passaic County Tournament. With their confidence and their swagger back, the Defenders are excited for the opportunity to get over that hump.

“This group has not been to a county semifinal so we're excited to get another crack at getting there,” said Hawthorne Christian head coach Tyler Van Dyk. “When we settled in, we found our rhythm. We moved Clarence from an attacking player into the back and he's done a great job. I honestly didn't know what we were going to get today after suffering our first loss, but I think we lived up to our potential today.”

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