Sunday, October 25, 2015

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Seth Shachar in full celebration mode after his assist three minutes into the second overtime gave Tenafly a 4-3 win over Northern Highlands in the Bergen County Tournament semifinals.

OAKLAND – One way or the other, Tenafly senior midfielder Seth Shachar was about to end up on the ground early in the second overtime of a back-and-forth, winner-take-all match against Northern Highlands in the semifinals of the Bergen County Tournament. Shachar had just played a short corner kick in Evan Rhee and got it back in right at the edge of the area near the end line.

Shachar was either going to be on the ground holding up play as he got his cramping calf stretched out by a trainer or he was going to be on the ground near his teammates celebrating a trip to the county final.

“I gave [Rhee] the ball, and just as he was giving it back to me I started cramping in my right calf. I took a touch and as I went to take the next one I could really feel it tightening up,” said Shachar. “As that was happening I saw Andrew Hwang running back post. I had to get the ball there with my last kick before I went down. I did it, it went right to his head and, thank God, he finished,” said Shachar.

Hwang’s diving header at the back post not only came just before Shachar seized up fully, it came 2:56 into the second overtime and brought an end to a classic semifinal, a seven goal thriller that ended 4-3 in favor of Tenafly, which will play Ramapo on Friday night for all the marbles.

“All I remember was Seth getting the ball down the line and him just putting it in back post,” said Hwang. I wasn’t thinking diving header, I just did it naturally and went for the ball. I don’t even know why I went after it that way, I just did it.”

It was a classy ending to one of those games where either participant would have been a worthy victor. Northern Highlands was coming off a week in which it beat second-seeded Bergen Tech last Sunday in the county quarterfinals and Ramapo in a league game on Wednesday. The Highlanders’ forward momentum carried right into the semifinal as it took the lead less than 12 minutes in.

Lucas McGovern celebrating the goal that gave Northern Highlands a 1-0 lead.

Christian Virgona split two defenders with a run down the right channel and nudged the ball wide to Rawad Mamary, who used his first touch to quickly change the angle of attack. His cross reached an open Lucas McGahren on the opposite side of the field and McGahren had a clear line of vision before rifling home the game’s first goal from 16 yards out.

Hwang is Tenafly’s target man up top, the leading returning scorer from last year’s state sectional championship team. When he is healthy he is a handful, but shin and thigh injuries have nagged him all season. He is playing through the bumps and bruises and he had a hand (or head) in three of Tenafly’s goals.

He made a hard diagonal run and received a pass in the 28th minute. Hwang occupied two defenders, worked around them and then dropped a pass to Kevin Lopez, who ran on from behind to finish and make it 1-1. Four minutes later, the result was the same but the buildup a bit more pretty. Hwang took another diagonal route to a pass and, with a defender locked on his back, he a cheeky back heel pass to a cutting Shachar, who finished to make it 2-1 in the 32nd minute.

Momentum swung repeatedly in the middle third of the game as Northern Highlands was rightfully awarded a penalty kick with 6:21 left in the first half. McGahren was the victim in the box and Sam Moscowitz buried the PK to forge the 2-2 halftime tie.

Just 32 seconds into the second half Tenafly briefly regain the initiative when Shachar took a ball at the top of the area, held a defender off and span and fired it home. Tenafly went up 3-2, but Highlands was just getting started. As the clock wound under 20 minutes and desperation starting to set in, the Highlanders took possession and rarely gave it back.

Tenafly's Andrew Hwang scored the game-winner and had two assists, including on this nifty back-heel set up.

Except for a couple of counterattacks that lasted a few seconds each, Highlands had all the play and there really was not anything that Tenafly head coach Bill Jaeger could do about it.

“We needed to get the ball out, to knock a couple of long balls so that we could at least get out to the middle of the field and we were not able to do that. You wish you had a timeout like in basketball where you can say, ‘Hey, let’s get refocused again,” said Jaeger. “It was only going to be a matter of time before you make a mistake when you are under that much pressure.”

That time came with 2:01 showing on the official scoreboard clock. With a chance to step to and clear, a Tenafly defender instead stepped on the ball and it stayed put. Tenafly keeper Tim Nehila could do nothing but watch as Highlands’ Thomas McMahon tucked the equalizer under the crossbar.

While Tenafly spent the final 20-plus minutes of regulation on its back foot, it got up on its toe right from the jump in the first overtime. Just 17 seconds in, Kiren Kapadia put his laces through a rip that was headed straight for the upper 90. But, with a good a save as can be made by a high school goaltender, Highlands’ Jase Barrack went up and got it and parried it over the bar. He made another brilliant save two minutes later when Hwang had a step on the last defender and hit a dart in full sprint that forced a save that Barrack made look a whole lot easier than it actually was.

Either of those shots would have been fitting game-winners, but Highlands fought on to force a second extra session. It took the crafty piece of business that Tenafly pulled off on the short corner three minutes into the second overtime to determine the winner.

Highlands' Thomas McMahon (25) netted the equalizer with 2:01 left in regulation to force overtime.

“I would rather lose on a great goal by a great team than a bad call for a PK or something that was controversial as to whether it went over the goal line or not. If we had to lose it was better that it came by a sharp knife than nicks and cuts,” said Highlands head coach Steve Every. “We played with a lot of character, a lot of poise and we played what I thought was a great brand of soccer. I told the boys to not hang their head. I think people who saw the game will see that we are a quality team and did great job. Credit Tenafly for putting in a great goal at the end.”

It was a great goal and now it is off to county final for a rematch eight years in the making. Ramapo beat Tenafly 2-1 in 2005 and while the players have all changed, the coaching matchup will be the same as Jaeger is taking his team to the county championship match in the first season of his second stint as Tenafly’s head coach.

It has been a charmed run to this point as the Tigers beat Ridgewood in PKs in the Round of 16, Garfield in overtime in the quarterfinals and Highlands in double overtime in the semis. It is going to be fun to see what Tenafly might do for an encore.

“We are living on the edge, the Cardiac Kids without a doubt, but that is part of what senior leadership is about. The kids don’t want to lose,” said Jaeger. “Andrew stepped up, Seth stepped up there at the end. Brandon [Ossian] in the middle, Matt [Weiss] in the middle, our keeper [Nehila]; they are all seniors and they all played big time games for us.”

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