Josh Reiser made two saves in the final three round of penalty kicks to give Pascack Valley a 2-2 (6-5) win over Demarest in the opening round of the North 1, Group 2 state sectional tournament.

DEMAREST – Pascack Valley was down to its last strike a couple of times in its North 1, Group 2 state sectional tournament opener. The Panthers were down by a goal on two separate occasions in the second half and needed a save in the final round of penalty kicks to keep their season alive.

To go from those circumstances to the North 1, Group 2 state sectional quarterfinals via a 2-2 (6-5 PKs) victory on the road at fifth-seeded Northern Valley/Demarest, was a pretty crazy turn of events.

“We went down 1-0 and 2-1, but if you see us on the sideline all we say is, ‘Hold the rope,’ and that was what we were able to do; keep fighting and keep going,” said Pascack Valley head coach PV head coach Luciano Cofrancesco, whose team is the No. 12 seed, the same as it was when PV last won a section title in 2021. “One goal was not going to sink us.”

Not only did one goal deficits on two different occasions not sink the Panthers, they seemed to inspire them. After a scoreless first half, Demarest’s Ryan Shea knocked in a rebound of his own shot to break the ice just two minutes, but the lead lasted just more than five minutes as Robert Wasserman touched home a long restart to knot the game back up.

In the 58th minute Demarest went back in front off a shot by Chase Van Saun that was saved by PV keeper Josh Reiser and either trickled in or was walked over the goal line by Adam Kaufman. However it was credited, Demarest grabbed another short-lived one goal lead that was wiped out by Steve Gifford, who nudged home a throw-in from Anthony Lekaj from the right touchline.

“The entire season we have had moments where we get down, but we are a group that doesn’t really give up on each other. We feel like we are always in the game,” said Gifford, PV’s lone target man who put a lot of miles on his cleats running at defenders. “Once I got that second goal everyone knew that we were back in it and it was our game to win”

Demarest keeper Dror Cohen making a save in the first round of PKs.

Reiser made two quality saves in the in the final 16 minutes of regulation. The first was a dive to his left to keep out a shot by Ryan Dunne, who was sent in by Shea and the second came with just over five minutes left when he went low to his left to turn aside a crafty effort by Erez Shinar, who used the outside of his left foot to spin one on target.

Reiser made two saves in the first overtime and Demarest (12-9-1), which was playing in its eighth extra time game of the season, survived a scary moment when it gave away a free kick just on the edge of the area, There were some more almost in a free flowing second overtime in which both teams were going for the win rather than packing the back and hoping for PKs, but the shootout came anyway and put itself in the driver’s seat in the opening round.

Dunne led off with a make and then Demarest goalkeeper Dror Cohen dove to his left to keep out PV’s first try. Yanis Parikos, Danny Scuro and Chase Van Saun all scored to make Demarest perfect in its first four attempts, while Tristan Verdonck Flores, Gifford and Adrian Cano made three straight for the Panthers, but they were still one short heading in the final frame.

It was save or hand in the jersey for Reiser, who kicked away Demarest’s fifth shot to keep his team alive.

“I just picked my direction. I knew I was going to dive left the second he shot it and I got it with my feet. I don’t know how, but I did,” said Reiser. “It’s the playoffs and we had to find a way to get it done. It could be ugly, it could be pretty, it doesn’t matter. We just needed to find a way to win this game.”

Tristan Verdonck Flores hit the PK in the seventh round that sent Pascack Valley through to the quarterfinals.

There was still work to do, however, and Reiser was again intimately involved. After Dunne netted in the sixth round and Gifford answered for PV, Reiser guessed low left again to make a stop and Verdonck Flores then buried the final kick of the game to send the Panthers through to the quarterfinals where they will travel to No. 4 West Milford on Friday afternoon.

“I was honestly really nervous. I knew where I was going to go, but I did not know what was going to happen after I hit it,” said Verdonck Flores. “My first shot I went right. Their goalie got there and got a hand on it, but it still went in. Watching the rest I saw that he was going left on every single pen. When I got up again I went left because I guessed that there was no way he was going left five times in a row.”

Verdonck Flores’ match was good and Pascack Valley (6-11-1) kept its season alive. The Panthers came in on an extended losing streak, but that does not matter now as they move on to their next one game season.

“The boys work hard and we always say that we want to try to peak at the right time of the season and that time is now,” said Cofrancesco. “Traditionally we have done well towards the end of the season and we want to represent well in the state tournament.”

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