Mustangs win first A North soccer title
Curtis scores in overtime to seal division crown for Marlboro squad
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
When overtime beckoned, Marlboro High School boys soccer coach Dave Santos turned to his assistant, Brian Nash, and said, "This is our time to shine."

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff Howell High School running back Will Hayes leaves Brick Memorial defenders behind him as he rushes for yardage during the Rebels' 37-27 victory over the Mustangs on Oct. 23 in Brick Township. Hayes led Howell with 74 yards rushing. See story, page 78.

Marlboro had already won four matches with overtime goals this season, so why couldn't the Mustangs do it one more time?

Because of those earlier overtime wins, the Mustangs were in Howell on Oct. 20 playing for the Shore Conference A North Division title. They were 10-2-1 and needed to beat the Rebels in order to finish ahead of Christian Brothers Academy, which had already finished its division schedule at 10-2-2.

Of course, a tie against Howell would have meant a co-championship for Marlboro with CBA, and for a team that is was looking for the program's first soccer championship of any kind, you might think that would be enough. But it was not enough for Marlboro.

Jimmy Ryan before turning the catch into a 22-yard touchdown.

"We came to Howell to win," said Santos. "We were going to go down swinging. We don't play for ties. We tell the kids to be aggressive."

Sweeper Vito Amato, one of Marlboro's tri-captains, said the Mustangs are a confident team in overtime.

"We always have the will," he said. "We find that extra strength. I had the feeling that sooner or later we were going to get that goal [against Howell]. We were keeping play in their half of the field."

Shortly into the second overtime, Amato's premonition was proved correct. Steve Curtis scored the "golden goal" in the 95th minute of the match off a feed from Max Freedman to give the Mustangs a 2-1 victory and the A North crown.

The play began on a corner kick that Howell could not clear. Freedman wound up with the ball and lofted a pass that Curtis was able to head into the net, ending the game and completing Marlboro's chase for a championship.

"It was a long time coming," said Santos, who has coached the Mustangs for 14 years. "It was only fitting that we won it with a golden goal."

As he watched the play develop and saw Curtis finish off the scoring opportunity, Amato said he was "ecstatic." The pressure was off, the Mustangs had done it.

"Becoming the first team in school history to win a championship was really exciting," said Amato. "Coach Santos told us that an opportunity had been presented to us that no other team had had before."

The Mustangs made good on that opportunity.

The division championship came in a season in which the Mustangs, who finished second by a half-game in A North in 2008, were not expected to contend for the title. While Marlboro had a large senior class, only three players returned who had played significant minutes.

Santos said that despite the lack of experience, this year's seniors played with a sense of urgency and had great chemistry throughout the season. The Mustangs did more than just rely on two or three players.

The chemistry came from the players' closeness on and off the field.

"This year we were a more unified group," said Amato. "We (the seniors) have all played together through club soccer and middle school. We're a really tight group. We're all best friends and so excited to make our mark in school history. We don't need superstars."

In fact, the five game-winning overtime goals were scored by four different players: Ameer Abedrabbo (2), Dan Weisberger, Jake Katz and Curtis.

Amato said while winning the championship was a goal of this senior class since they were freshmen, they also wanted to win for their coach, who they respect for all he has given to them and to Marlboro soccer.

"It was great for Coach Santos," Amato said. "We wanted to win it for him."

The Marlboro seniors also found strength and motivation from last year's close calls, where they not only finished second in A North, but advanced to the Shore Conference Tournament final for the first time in school history (falling to Freehold Township in the championship match).

"We were so close before," said Amato. "It gave us that extra motivation not to let anything like that happen again."

It wasn't easy getting the first title, but then again, nothing worth winning should be easy.

Marlboro could have sewn up the division crown the week before, but lost at home to CBA, 2-0, lifting the Colts back into the race. When CBA won out, it forced Marlboro to win both of its games last week in order to claim the A North title. Making the hurdle a little higher, both matches were on the road.

"We had to pick ourselves back up" after losing to CBA, Amato said.

The Mustangs took care of Middletown South, 1-0, on Oct 19 on Weisberger's goal in the 74th minute, assisted by Chris Battaglia. From there the defense and goalie Greg Belanger took over and the Mustangs remained in control of their destiny.

That same afternoon, CBA beat Freehold Township, 3-2, rallying from two goals down to keep the pressure on Marlboro. Had Freehold Township won the match against CBA in Lincroft, the Mustangs would have clinched the A North title with their win at Middletown South.

Instead, Marlboro had to go to Howell on Oct. 20 to face a team that at 6-7 was trying to qualify for the state tournament and needed a win at home to keep its hopes alive.

The Rebels made life tough for the Mustangs by scoring first on Ozcan Onder's goal in the seventh minute of the match.

Neal Thakkar, assisted by Sean Hickey, tied the score in the 28th minute. The match remained 1-1 through regulation and went into overtime, which has been very kind to the Mustangs this fall and was once more when Curtis found the net, elevating Marlboro to the A North crown.

The Mustangs finished at 11-2-1 in the toughest division in the Shore Conference and at 12-2-1 overall for the regular season.

Marlboro was seeded No. 1 for the Shore Conference Tournament, which began last week, and the Mustangs were well aware of what that meant.

"We have the target on our backs," said Amato. "We can't be complacent."

The Mustangs had a first round bye and opened play in the conference tournament on Oct. 24 against Shore Regional. Marlboro continued its "golden goal" ways as Weisberger's goal with 6:25 left in the second overtime lifted the Mustangs to a 2-1 victory at the Marlboro municipal complex turf field.

Shore Regional, the No. 17 seed, led 1- 0 at the half on a goal by Chris Sverapa. Abedrabbo tied the match in the fourth minute of the second half.

The Mustangs were scheduled to play Colts Neck in the conference tournament quarterfinals on Oct. 27. The Cougars, the No. 8 seed, won two 1-0 games last week to advance to the final eight.

On Oct. 24 the Cougars (9-5-3) eliminated Wall High School from the tournament on Brendan Murphy's tally 28 minutes into the second half.

Ross Tetro's goal in the second half was the difference for the Cougars when they beat Monmouth Regional in their first round game.

During the A North season, Marlboro was 1-0-1 against the Cougars.

Freehold High School's Shore Conference B North Division champion Colonials marched on in the conference tournament by eliminating Toms River East in overtime, 2-1. Evan Tannenbaum scored the winning goal on an assist from Anthony Pira. Ryan Sullivan had staked the Colonials to a 1-0 lead midway through the second half.

The Colonials (14-1) are the No. 7 seed and played No. 2 CBA in the quarterfinals on Oct. 27.

CBA defeated Howell, 3-2, on Oct. 24 in the second round of the conference tournament.

Howell beat Monsignor Donovan of Toms River in its first round tournament match as Onder scored a goal and assisted on another in a 3-0 victory in Howell on Oct. 22. Kyle Dougher and John Riccio also scored for the Rebels.

Dougher and Onder scored for the Rebels in the loss at CBA.

There will be a new Shore Conference Tournament champion in 2009 as last year's winner, Freehold Township (11-5-1) seeded No. 5, lost to No. 12 Toms River South, 2- 1.

The tournament semifinals are scheduled for Oct. 29 at the Summerfield School field in Neptune and the championship match is scheduled for Oct. 31, also at the Summerfield School field in Neptune.