WILHELM, ORRICO LEAD PATRIOTS TO SCT BOYS SOCCER TITLE

 WILHELM, ORRICO LEAD PATRIOTS TO SCT BOYS SOCCER TITLE

By Eric Braun
 
WEST LONG BRANCH – On a crisp fall night at Shore Regional’s Robert E. Fenney Field, the fourth-seeded Freehold Township Patriots took on No. 15 Manasquan in the Shore Conference Tournament boys soccer championship game.
 
On paper both teams were the underdogs coming into the tournament with the likes of Holmdel, Marlboro and Jackson Memorial earning the top three spots, first-round byes and the headlines.  With the fourth seed, Freehold Township would earn its way into Wednesday night’s final after besting Mater Dei Prep, 4-0, then three one-goal affairs against Rumson, 3-2; Wall, 2-1; and Colts Neck, 1-0, in the semifinal. 
 
For Manasquan, it took a slightly harder path into the final, having to come from a double-digit draw to earn the 15th seed. The Warriors topped 18th-seeded Toms River North, 3-0; took down No. 2 Marlboro, 1-0; went to double-overtime and penalty kicks to beat seventh-seeded Southern Regional; and then beat CBA in the semifinal after another double-overtime and penalty kicks.
 
Freehold Township entered the final having never lost a Shore Conference Tournament championship game and having won the tournament three times (1987, 2008 and 2014).  For Manasquan, this was the school’s first appearance in the Shore Conference Tournament final. 
 
Once the game kicked off it looked as though the Patriots were going to jump on the Warriors early and often.  Freehold Township came out on fire and were winning every lose ball and taking control of the midfield. Manasquan never wavered from the mental toughness that had gotten them to this contest and finally slowed down Freehold Township’s attack.  
 
The Patriots finally broke through the stingy defense of Manaquan with two minutes left in the first half when the Patriots took a throw-in from midfield that junior Adam Havens headed forward to the feet of junior Zach Orrico, who beat his only defender and took on keeper Joe Weinstein one-on-one and beat him low to the corner for the first goal of the game.
 
“Honestly, being objective, I am lucky to have the best two players in the Shore Conference in Zach and Bennett Messenger.  But when it comes to Zach, I call him nails cause he is a throw back player and no matter the situation he comes up big,” said Freehold Township coach Joshua Mehl.
 
The second-half the script was flipped and Manasquan came out as the attacker and just missed on two great runs in the opening minutes.  Then the Warriors evened the contest up at 1-1 when senior Drew Greenblatt buried a direct kick from just outside the eighteen to beat keeper John Wilhelm for the equalizer. Manasquan would capitalize late in the game after Freehold Township miskicked the ball out of the box and senior Tyler Guagenty volleyed his shot past Wilhelm for the 2-1 lead.
 
With just over 13 minutes to play, Freehold Township pushed everyone forward and was not leaving West Long Branch without a fight. The Patriots offensive pressure would pay off with just over six minutes to play when following a handball in the box, Orrico scored his second goal of the night to even the match at 2-2 following his penalty kick. 
 
After a back-and-forth double-overtime that featured incredible shots and more incredible goalkeeping from both Wilhelm and Weinstein, the championship game was headed to penalty kick shootouts for the first time in Shore Conference Tournament championship game history, rather than crowning co-champions.
 
Freehold Township would convert on four out of five kicks to capture the championship, 4-3, on penalty kicks. Scoring PKs for Freehold Township were Messenger, Orrico, Evan Savino and the game-winner from Niko Fursik.  Scoring for Manasquan were Greenblatt, Tommy Johnson and Chris Pierro. 
 
Both keepers came up with several huge saves in the shootout, as Weinstein made a diving stop to his left for one, and Wilhelm made two superb saves diving to his right for one and then the clincher to his left.
 
“I’m a keeper myself and I have nothing but respect for both keepers. What is going to get lost in this game is Joe Weinstein made two game-saving saves in OT and he is all class,” said Mehl. “As for my keeper, his reactions, saves, and abilities to save PKs… we have ultimate faith in him. Joe has been right up there all season with Wilhelm as the top keepers in the Shore.”
 
 
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