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    • Elliot Morris goal and strong defensive effort propel Steinert men’s soccer into semifinals – Trentonian
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    Elliot Morris goal and strong defensive effort propel Steinert men’s soccer into semifinals – Trentonian

    Umito Posted on

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    Steinert’s Elliot Morris, right, celebrates with goalie Dennis Chaykovskyy, left, after defeating Red Bank Regional in a Central Group III boys’ quarterfinal soccer game Friday afternoon at Klockner Road in Hamilton Township. (Kyle Franko/Trentonian Photo)

    Develop

    HAMILTON – The Steinert boys soccer team has emerged from its slump in a big way.

    Not a scoring crisis, but a defensive crisis.

    After allowing seven goals in its previous three games, Steinert shut down a dangerous Red Bank Regional attack for a 1-0 victory in an NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III quarterfinal game Friday.

    Senior center back Elliot Morris scored the only goal of the game in the sixth minute of the second half and the third-seeded Spartans (15-4-3) held on to win a home game in semifinal against seventh-seeded Burlington Township. The Falcons advanced with a 2-1 win over second-seeded Northern Burlington.

    “Our defense hasn’t really played well the last few games,” said coach Anthony Tessein, whose team has allowed just 10 goals in its first 18 games. “It’s a senior-led defense and they’ve really stepped up to the plate the last few days. They were humble about not playing well, they wanted to improve, they tried to fix that in training. We had a good idea of ​​what Red Bank was going to offer us and it worked.

    The sixth-seeded Bucs (13-8-1) came in having scored 51 goals with two big threats in Alex Salvo (19 goals, 6 assists) and Trey Cummings (14 goals, 9 assists). They thrive on possessing the ball and getting good opportunities.

    So the plan was to have the attackers press and allow the midfielders and defenders to do so so the Bucs couldn’t set up anything in the attacking third. Steinert did a remarkable job denying Salvo and Cummings, who had few touches where they could be dangerous.

    “It started with the attackers,” Tessein said. “They did exactly what we were working on. We were replacing guys in and out, they were fried. We just contained them, and that was the plan.

    Morris, Ryan Checkowski and Jake Reilly had their usual good games at the back, but it was the 10 outfield players who kept Red Bank bottled up.

    “We give a lot of support to our midfield, they played exceptional defense,” Morris said. “Our strikers worked hard all day. They worked the five-minute shifts they needed. Everyone off the bench wanted to play and win.

    “Yesterday we worked a lot on defensive positioning, striker positioning and midfield positioning. We locked it down in practice and just capitalized on the field.

    Tessein praised unsung heroes like Bayron Godinez, Zach Barton and Derek Monahan.

    “Bayron does what you ask, he works pretty hard,” the coach said. “So many guys on this team just follow the plan, they do it. Their name is not often in the newspapers because we don’t get many assists or goals. But Zach is a lockdown center defensive midfielder, just like Derek Monahan. They had a good match today.

    They had to, because a low-scoring game favored Steinert while a wild shootout would favor Red Bank.

    There were few shots throughout the match, as both goalkeepers combined for three saves.

    Steinert’s Mathias Perez had the best chance to score in the first half, but his low shot was thwarted on a nice set piece by goalkeeper Eric Minetti.

    After little offense in the first 45 minutes, Steinert got what he needed with 34:12 left. Tyler Tafrow took a free kick into the box and after a scrum the ball rolled to Morris on the left side and he slotted it into an open goal.

    “It kind of bounced off another player’s head,” Morris said. “I was in the right place at the right time and I took advantage of it.

    “I had a similar chance a few games ago and I took it with my right foot. I missed and it was pretty bad. Today I knew I had to finish with my left foot. I put it in and scored the goal.

    Steinert hung on while Red Bank possessed but couldn’t get the ball to Salvo or Cummings in spots where they could go to work. The Spartans earned their first shutout in five games and their 10th overall.

    “One of our core principles is execution,” Tessein said. “We did it today. We did what we had to do. We are proud of them.

    The result is a third home game of the tournament against a 10-9-1 Falcons team that beat Lawrence, 1-0, in the first round.

    “Honestly, I’m not too surprised,” Tessein said. “I knew the way the power points were shaking, we felt like we deserved to be both. It’s great. We prefer to be at home, not having to travel. It’s a school day. We walk around here and do our work and hopefully mind our own business.

    Morris added: “It’s exciting. We like to play on our lawn, on our field. We play our best here.

    Red Bank (13-8-1) 0 0 — 0

    Steinert (15-4-3) 0 1 — 0

    G: Morris. Plans: R-2. S-6. Saves: R-Minetti 2. S-Chaykovskyy 1.

    Originally published:

    Umito
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