Tuesday Recap Pt. I

Heading into Tuesday's games, 12 Shore teams had a chance at a sectional final appearance. The dust has settled and six of those teams are still standing, and wouldn't you know it, two of them are Howell and Manalapan.



Howell steals one from North Brunswick


Howell didn't necessarily steal a win from North Brunswick, but the winning goal was handed to them on a silver platter. For those that might have missed it, Howell was awarded a PK in the 77th and Cody Calafiore cashed in to give Howell a 2-1 win.


Yes, Bethel went down just inside the 18 and yes, calling it by the book, the call can certainly be made. But I think anyone watching that game wanted to see it play out, at least until it got to PKs at the end. I though Howell had the better of play in the second half, but once North Brunswick tied it, the game could have gone either way. Just before the foul in the box, Calafiore had two great looks at the goal and North Brunswick goalie Matt Perrella made one great save, and one of his defenders (didn't catch the number) backed his goalie up and got a foot on Calafiore's second shot. In the second half, North Brunswick had to do some scrambling in the back just to keep the game tied and, unfortunately for them, scrambled their way into a foul and a penalty kick.


The sad thing was this game was so much more than a penalty kick, but that's what it came down to. But getting past the kick, it was quite a game. Bethel comes up huge again with a header into the goal to put Howell up 1-0 and threw a nice shot fake at the defense to draw the foul. Calafiore gave him a perfect ball off a corner kick into a pretty stiff wind and the goalie came up to get it and it got over his head. Howell had five corner kicks previous to that one, so it seemed like only a matter of time before they got a really good shot off of one.


Ibrahim Kamara was as good as advertised, scoring on a beautiful shot that he floated over Brian McDonough and into the goal on a hop. He had five goals in three state games, two game-winners, one overtime goal, one in the last five seconds to beat Marlboro, and one against one of the toughest defenses in the state to tie the game. He played some perfect balls that his teammates just missed finishing on a number of occassions. He was the best talent on the field, which is saying something when you're sharing the field with Kyle Bethel.


Both teams dodged a couple of bullets along the way. North Brunswick hit a right post about as close to the goal line as you can without putting it in. As a matter of fact, the North Brunswick cheering section and the bench errupted as if their team scored until McDonough eventually tracked down the ball in front of the net and punted it away. In addition to the madness before the PK, Chris Katona hit a header that Perrella made a finger-tip save on. His momentum looked to carry him over the line and Bethel and Katona raised their arms as if to signal for a goal, but the official ruled that he kept the ball out.


Great game between two great teams with some outstanding skill on the field. It was too bad for NB that midfielder Evans Ofori missed essentially the whole game with a very tight hamstring. He would have been a nice counter to Calafiore. But all things considered, I thought both teams played well, North Brunswick was very impressive, and Howell continues to knock off the big guns on the way to their first sectional championship in 19 years. The first of six congratulations go to the Rebels.


GQ comes through


It's no secret that the Manalapan offense runs through George Quintano. When Quintano got his second yellow card in the Braves' quarterfinal win over Hunterdon Central, Manalapan hit a wall and held off the Red Devils long enough to get to PKs. Against the other Red Devils in the semis, Quintano stayed on the field and was the difference, scoring in the 88th minute. That goal was Quintano's 26th of the year, and with Eric Mackin watching the rest of the season, Quintano could end up the Shore's leading scorer with five more points. Those points will be hard to come by against Howell, but if Manalapan can beat their rivals for the first time this year, he may have a good shot.


Don't lose site of the fact that Manalapan has not allowed a goal in the State Tourney. Jake Grinkevich is playing at an All-Shore level and if not for a great sequence of passing from Eric O'Neill and Matt Salvatore, and a great finish by Kyle Bethel, Grinkevich might have stole the show in the SCT final. Against most teams, he'll give Manalapan a distinct advantage.


Did you guys hear that Shore won?


Just having a little fun with you Shore fans. It's kind of sad, because, at least on these threads, the Shore comments have overshadowed their play for anyone that doesn't know much about them.


On the field though, the Blue Devils are making plenty of noise. Brian Guadagno was a key player last year, and when he returned from injury in the Freehold Twp. SCT game, he still didn't look right. Shore's defense has not allowed a goal in 148 minutes and a healthier, more comfortable has to be a big reason why. On the scoring end, Scarpino and Novoa are right in the middle of things again and Dan Sverapa puts in the biggest of his nine goals this year.


The Devils are starting to click at the right time, and they'll have to keep clicking to beat defending sectional champion Somerville. I said that I thought the Somerville-Manasquan winner would win the section, and Somerville is certainly the favorite, but from what I've seen of Shore, they have the talent to be a CJ II champ. It's just a matter of whether they can be a CJ II champ this year with a strong Somerville squad standing in their way.


I'll wrap up thoughts on the other three winnners (CBA, Red Bank, and Point Beach) Wednesday and touch on some tidbits from losses by Neptune, TRE, TRN, MonDon, Manasquan, and Ocean.