WEST ORANGE, NJ – The West Orange High School and Seton Hall Prep soccer team, two perfectly matched teams, faced off in the Essex County Tournament final held at Belleville High School on Sunday night, Oct. 17. Seton Hall Prep won, 2-0.
“Our boys played a great game tonight against nationally-ranked Seton Hall Prep,” said West Orange head coach Doug Nevins. “After falling behind on an early goal, we were able to pressure them the last 20 minutes of the first half.
“The early goal hurt,” Nevins continued. “Playing from behind on a team so good is tough. We had a lot of throws and thought we would head one in.”
Truth be told, the Seton Hall Prep defense was perhaps a little stronger, and the Pirates were a little faster, but the game could have easily gone either way up until the end. SHP scored early with a goal by David Schuster and West Orange kept up the pace until Charles Giordano kicked it in for Seton Hall in the final minutes.
West Orange senior Ari Rosu played spectacularly, but the SHP defense prevented the Mountaineers from taking several shots on goal throughout the game.
“We continued to play well in the second half, but couldn’t find the back of the net,” Nevins said. “With seven minutes to go, we rolled the dice and moved Ari Rosu up the field. Unfortunately, we gave up a second at the end. But the boys really did play great.”
In the ECT semifinals, the Mountaineers defeated Livingston, 4-0, on Oct. 12 at Millburn HS.
A red card issued to Livingston goalie Logan Paredes for coming off his line to challenge too late at the top of the box gave WOHS senior Ari Rosu the second goal of the game and put the Mountaineers in the lead, 2-0, towards the end of the first half. Goals by Rosu, Arthur Rosu, Kennedy Ibizem and Mason Bashkoff, who recently was named one of the three top juniors in the state for boys soccer by NJ.com, sealed the win, sending West Orange to the ECT final for the first time since 2012. Their last ECT championship win was in 2006.
The Mountaineers continue their regular season on Oct. 18 with a game against Millburn beginning at 4 pm.
Photos Courtesy of Cynthia Cumming
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