Glen Ridge vs. Metuchen @ Soccer Group Finals
TCNJ Lion’s Field in Ewing NJ – November 17th Written Louis Rossi for NJSI.net, Photos by Alan Maglaque
CLICK HERE to view all the pictures from the game and read on…
Playing second in a series of four championship games to be played on Saturday, November 17th, were Glen Ridge and Metuchen.
For the first, and only, time during the course of these games cold and sunlight weren’t a factor. The temperature hovered around 55 degrees and the wind seemed to all but die. The field was kept illuminated by a sun occasionally peeking its way through the overcast.
Coming out strong were the Ladies of Metuchen, drawing first blood only three minutes into the game. With 37:08 left in the first half #13 (Freshman) Sara Corson would receive a pass from #18 (Senior) Abby Dingle to put Metuchen up 1-0.
The remainder of the first half saw glen ridge on the offensive, desperately trying to settle the score. The crowd was rowdy; getting behind their respective schools and making it very clear to both teams that they were as much a part of the game as the players on the field.
Half time snuck up on Glen Ridge, however, catching them hard on the offensive deep in Metuchen territory. The ladies rallied and scrambled for a last-second goal going into the second half, however time ran short as it always does, and left the Glen Ridge some time to mull things over during halftime.
Glen Ridge Coach Oscar Viteri was very vocal during the half. Shouting words of encouragement, attempting to inspire his hard working team to push ‘115%’. “There’s 40 minutes left in the season. You worked all year to get here, and you gave them a gift,” shouted Viteri, “I’ve said it from day one; I don’t care if we win or lose, as long as you put on that jersey and play with pride.”
Viteri’s pep talk imbued his team to mount several attempts at goal during the second half. Twice were the opportunities that would come Glen Ridge’s way, once nearly fooling everyone on the field as well at Metuchen’s goal keeper (with 31:28 left to play) into thinking they had already scored.
Metuchen also came out ready to play for the second half, fending off attack after attack and even coming harrowingly close to scoring again (with 21:04 left to play) when a ball was deflected off a corner kick into a pile of defenders, stopping just inches in front of the goal line.
Glen Ridge’s pace-setting second half wasn’t enough to overcome the early Metuchen goal, allowing the ladies in Royal blue to come away with the victory, trophy, and title of state champions.
“We were focused on winning. Last year they knew they wanted to come back and win,” said Coach Valerie Gazda, “We started day one of practice focused on winning.”
Coach Gazda also added, “Maddie Maline (#3, Glen Ridge, Senior) is one [heck] of a player. We came into the game knowing she was a major threat with some fancy footwork. We were lucky enough to have the right defenders in the right places to shut her down. We knew this was going to be a victory for whichever team made less mistakes. Both teams played an exceptional game, we were fortunate to come out stronger in the first half and get a point on the board.
CLICK HERE to view all the pictures from the game
