Manalapan wins Group IV Title (Sort of)

Manalapan looked primed to win its first ever state title Frinday night, but instead settled for its first ever state title, as weird as that sounds. The Braves tied Clifton 1-1 in the Group IV final after letting a one-goal lead slip away in the 65th minute.

The goal against Manalapan was the first of these playoffs, and it came pretty much the only way possible to get a ball past Jake Grinkevich: on redirection. The first shot sent Grinkevich one way and the ensuing touch sent the ball in the other direction. There wasn't much he could have done.

Jeff Weitz scored the Manalapan goal on a 35-yard bomb that went over Clifton keeper Chris Kosciolek's head after he came up a little too far. Unfotunately for the Braves (except for Weitz of course), they'll probably remember the goals that didn't go in rather than Weitz' goal.

George Quintano slid a shot just wide of the far post on a one-on-one with the keeper, and Greg Grzelak had two good looks in OT, but one hit the post and the other went over the crossbar. There were some other good opportunities, a few of which ended in nice saves by Kosciolek.

The best save of the game didn't even count as it turned out. With two minutes left and the score tied at 1, Clifton thought Manalapan touched the ball on a free kick and proceded to take the restart themseles and turn it into a breakaway. Oscar Gonzalez had a one-on-one with Grinkevich and ripped a shot toward the far post, but Grinkevich came up, got his right hand on it and it hit the far post and kicked away. As it turned out, Manalapan should have retained possession anyway, so the ball moved back to the spot of the original free kick. That would hve been the play of the game had it counted.

Dropping back into safe-mode probably hurt Manalapan in this game, but it's hard to second-guess John Natoli for implementing a strategy that has worked all year. Give credit to Clifton for getting the better of play when they were down a goal. When the game was even, Manalapan was able to ssert itself a little better.

The Manalapan kids seemed content to take the tie. It was a little strange, because each player I talked to seemed progressively more at peace with the result. I think once they got past the fact that they didn't win the game in front of them, they realized they won the first state title in school history. It might not be perfect, but it'll go down as a title nonetheless.

A lot of people watching these games will call for shootouts to decide one champion instead of settling for a tie, which I'll admit, doesn't feel right. But I'll take this over a shootout. From a spectator standpoint, these games are like the last Sopranos episode. There's no definite resolution, there is a lot left unanswered, and you are left wanting more. But at the end of the day, it's the only way to end it. A shootout would have been like a shootout between Tony some of Phil Leotardo's guys where someone is left in a pool of their own blood. Even if Tony (I guess Manalapan in this case) comes out on top, you might get a kick out of it at first, but there would be the feeling that it just wasn't the right way to end something that was so much more than just a shootout. As it is, the ending might have been a little disappointing, but it fits the rest of the story better than the alternative would have.

That's all for games I guess. It's been real. We'll move on to All-Shore talk next week.