Quick and frequent whistles were the biggest themes in one of the most highly anticipated boys soccer matches in the state to date this season.
During Friday nights best-of-the-best match up of Millburn and the Seton Hall Prep Pirates at Dr. Keith A. Neigel Field at MHS, the two clubs combined for 36 fouls through two halves and an overtime period. In the end, the Pirates came away with a 2-1 road win.
“I think it was a well fought game from both sides. Defensively I thought we played relatively well. The boys worked hard, in the second half a little bit, we were losing some of the second balls that were popping up, that’s why they had a little bit better play,” said eighth year Millburn head coach Rob Grosso. “The physical play was not an issue at all. In games like this, the two [officials] system is not a good idea. In a game of this caliber, I really think that the refereeing and officiating took away from the game. Too many fouls.”
With 3:42 left in overtime, Seton Hall's Brandon Adler knocked the game winner in from the top of the box, sending the Pirate team, bench and fans into a frenzy. After being held in check for much of the game, a second yellow card and an ejection to Millburn senior midfielder and co-captain Bryan Gonnella with just under 30 minutes to play seemed to shift the momentum over to the Pirates.
Up until then, Millburn had been winning all of the second chance and 50-50 balls, especially with their backs against their own nets. But with 17:38 left to go in regulation, the Pirates finally broke through, scoring on a deflected ball in front of the net, hitting the lower left corner.
Senior midfielder Jeff Eisenbud got Millburn on the board early when he picked up a ricocheted ball off of the post and then sent a laser flying past the Pirate goalie with over 27 minutes left in the first half. Sam Waters dropped the initial cross in front of the net, but the first Miller shot went wide and off of the post, setting up Eisenbud.
Millburn was able to hold off the Pirates for most of the game, but the fouls—26 of which were on Millburn—clearly affected their ability to play defense. Offensively, Millburn had trouble getting clean shots after the first goal. Several tremendous saves from Seton Hall's Casey DeFluri kept the Millers from adding to their lead.
“Every game is important, the conference that we’re in is very competitive. The positive thing is that we’re going to see them again at their place, our boys are excited about that and we have to move forward,” Grosso said.
The loss was Millburn’s first of the season, dropping their record to 5-1-1, while Seton Hall Prep improved to 8-0. Seton Hall now sits alone in first place in the newly formed Super Essex Conference American Division.
Millburn will get another shot at Seton Hall Prep later this season, but will have to win in West Orange if they hope to contend for a conference title. There is also a chance that the two squads will meet in the county tournament's championship game, should they advance that far.
The Pirates’ two goals scored is more than the Millers had allowed in six combined games, surrendering just one tally this season up until Friday night’s game.
“Overall I’m happy with [the defense], we need to correct a few things,” Grosso said. “We should be pressuring the ball a little bit more and in the defensive third, maybe not lunging at times. But overall it was a good game, it could have gone either way.”
At the very least the Millers proved they could stand toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the state, Grosso said, and will have to build off that. During last season’s Group 3 championship run, the Millers lost just twice. It has been a long time in between losses for the Millers, but as Grosso said, “losing always hurts.”
Millburn is in action again on Sunday at home against East Side in the second round of the Essex County Tournament.
