Photos by Steve Ellmore: Nutley (maroon uniforms) vs. Glen Ridge, Sept. 11, at Carteret Park, Glen Ridge. Nutley lost, 3-1.
The Nutley High School varsity boys; soccer team won back-to-back games against East Orange Campus and Bloomfield to improve to a 4-7 record.
The Raiders won an exciting match against East Orange in overtime by the score of 3-2 on Wednesday Oct. 4. The Raiders let up a goal early on to go down 1-0. The Raiders fought back, and were able to convert on a penalty shot scored by senior captain Ilya Udalov. Junior Garrett Groeling scored his first goal of the season to give the Raiders the lead in the second half. East Orange was able to tie it up towards the end of the half, causing the game to go into overtime. Garrett Groeling scored his second goal of the season, and the game winner 3 minutes into overtime from an assist by junior captain Austin Sweeney. Junior Christian Torres made 6 saves in net for the Raiders.
NHS defeated Bloomfield, 5-1, Friday night, Oct. 6, at Foley Field in Bloomfield. This was the second time the two teams played against each other, with the first game ending 1-0 in favor of Nutley. Bloomfield was able to get on the score sheet early on in the first half. The Raiders found a goal of their own towards the end of the half, when junior Javier Argudo scored his second goal of the season. The second half was dominated by the Raiders. The Raiders scored four unanswered goals in the second half. Sophomore JP Maruri had a goal and two assists, Junior Garret Groeling notched his third goal of the season and also had an assist, Junior Captain Austin Sweeney scored his fourth goal of the season, and sophomore Chris Kruse found his first goal of the season. Senior John Hickey had two assists in the match. The Raiders were not only powerful on offense, they also stayed strong defensively as well. Junior goalie Brandon Syto made 8 saves for the Raiders in net. Bloomfield fell to 6-6.