Chatham High School Boy’s soccer (N.J.) dominated Millburn (7-7-3) in its own offensive zone for much of its game Friday morning/afternoon at Cougar Field.
But the seventh-seeded Millers blasted a shot on a free kick to the right upper-hand corner to edge No. 2 Chatham, 2-1, 2:27 into overtime in the quarterfinals of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 Boy’s soccer Tournament.
The Cougars (14-4-2) had their opportunities to score but could not find the back of the net to overtake Millburn in the end, Chatham head coach Mark Maka noted. He added that his team has not played up to par over the last two weeks, something that bled over to Friday’s match.
“We didn’t have our best day,” Maka said. “It was just not a good day for us. The last two weeks has been a little bit of a struggle, just grinding out the last two weeks. I don’t know what it was, we just didn’t have it today. I don’t think we played well. We created a few chances but didn’t finish. We weren’t at our best today.”
After the Cougars continued to apply offensive pressure, a hard shot went wide right with 31:53 to go in the second half.
But senior Marco Mannino (19th goal) would change that, as he got Chatham on the scored scoreboard after his header found its way into the net with 31:26 remaining in the game for a 1-0 advantage. Senior Owen Fraser assisted on the marker.
A little over five minutes later, the Millers knotted up the match 1-1 after the ball wound up tucked into the inside of the goal’s left post.
The Cougars had a non-call go against them, as it appeared a Millburn player’s hand touched the ball near the goal mouth, deny them a penalty shot.
Nevertheless, both teams fought back forth, with Chatham unable to capitalize on more scoring chances, ultimately forcing overtime and their ousting from the playoffs in the end.
Senior Dean Aly and junior Liam Palma registered a tally apiece for Millburn in the victory.
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