Controversial Goal Leads to Chatham High School Boy’s Soccer Defeat to Delbarton

With Chatham High School (N.J.) Boy’s soccer team trailing Delbarton, 2-1, at the 14:11 mark of the second half, a Green Wave player collided with Cougar goalkeeper Jack Paone, with his hands seemingly on the ball, near the net. The contact knocked him to the turf and allowed the ball to find its way into the goal for a 3-1 lead.

Chatham (2-3) answered with a tally of its own off the foot of junior Ryan Hoffelder that narrowed the gap at 3-2 with 9:11 remaining left in the game. But that was as close as the Cougars would get, as they lost by a goal to Delbarton (4-0) Monday at Cougar Field.

“I held the ball, and he ran into my body,” an obvious disappointed Panoe lamented. “I knew I could grab it, and I did; can’t do much about it now. It was in my hands.”

Chatham head coach Mark Maka said that he felt his keeper was interfered with on the score, with a lack of visibility and manpower explanation, the referees offered.

“Yes. I thought that Jack was fouled on the play,” Maka expressed with candor. “He (the ref) said they both didn’t have the right angle on it, that’s what I was told. And that they said, ‘that’s why we need a three-man system in the high school game.

“He said he didn’t see the angle of Jack’s hands being on the ball from where he was standing, and the other ref was 60 yards away,” he added. “He said he couldn’t overrule it because he was too far away.”

A Cougar defensive breakdown led to the Green Wave’s first marker of the tilt with 27:30 remaining in the first half.

But Chatham senior Cillian Kalika banged home a goal from close range to even the game at one all with 23:31 left in the first half.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, another broken defensive play put Delbarton ahead, 2-1, with 18:2 to go in the half.

Maka said he did not want to harp on the bad call, and take away from his team’s solid performance, despite the defeat and missed penalty kick midway through the second half.

However, he did say that defensive lapses are something Chatham needs to work on going forward.

“We played well,” he said. “We created enough chances. Obviously, missing the PK hurt. Baring the third (goal) call, the first two were breakdowns on our part that we need to be cleaner on.”

Furthermore, Maka said the late first half goal was another tough break that could have conceivably change the course of the match.

“We just needed to clear that ball away, and we go into the half 1-1, feeling good,” Maka said. “That was a little deflating, but we battled back. Credit to our guys for fighting the full 80.”

Green Wave junior forward Owen Miller scored his first two goals of the season, while senior midfielder Logan Kim added another in the win.

The Cougars return to action Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. against Roxbury at home.

— Jerry Del Priore