I know had the rules been different, there would have been a 50 percent chance the Millburn boys soccer team would have lost at the Essex County Tournament last weekend, but I still can’t believe that they don’t go to shootouts. How anticlimactic and un-championship-like is it to end a county championship in a tie?
I could hardly believe it when I heard there were no penalty kicks. I suppose both Millburn and Seton Hall Prep were happy with half a share of the county title, but I think they would have liked to see it finished on the field instead of with the unexciting tie.
The Millburn girls showed a lot of heart and toughness on Sunday after resuming play early in the second half of the girls soccer county championship game. Those are the type of victories a team draws upon when they’re trailing in a playoff game a week or two from now. The Millburn girls, when they are playing their best soccer, can go toe-to-toe with any team in the state right now. I see this team lasting a while this postseason.
Down 28-13 heading into the fourth quarter, it looked as though the Millburn football team was staring at the end of its playoff hopes, in danger of losing to a winless team. But you have to give the Miller boys some credit, especially considering that up until Friday’s game they hadn’t scored a single point in the fourth quarter. This was a team that seemed to be always out of gas by the fourth quarter.
Yet, with 15 fourth quarter points and 12 in overtime, Millburn’s playoff life still has a pulse, albeit faint. At 3-3, with two games left to play before the eight game cutoff, Millburn is in 13th place with 44 power points.
The Millers need to keep on winning. They have two gift-wrapped victories coming up at home against Belleville and then East Side. They also need a little help. The problem for Millburn is every team they’ve beaten has been terrible (combined 2-17 record). As a result, they aren’t getting any power point boosts from opponents’ victories. In the next two weeks, they could use wins from Snyder, Shabazz and Barringer, to help pad their points. On top of it, they need some help from teams ahead of them.
There are 10 teams that Millburn could potentially catch by the end of the season. But realistically speaking, there are only four the Millers will likely be able to catch, barring a miracle. They need losses from Somerville, Morristown, Newark West Side and Parsippany Hills this week to open things up. Even a loss from one or two of those teams could do the trick, should Millburn keep winning.
Three most important games this week
1. Field Hockey at Middletown South, Friday—As the second-to-last seed in the North II Group 3 section, the Miller girls will have their work cut out for them on Friday on the road in the first-round playoff game.
2. Millburn football vs. Belleville, Saturday—Every game is a must win now. This one isn’t only because of getting in the playoffs though. A win here would give the boys their first three-game winning streak since before 2003 and also put them above .500 for the first time since their opening day win over Snyder.
3. Boys soccer at Seton Hall Prep, Wednesday—If Millburn hopes to win the SEC American Division, they need a win in West Orange on Wednesday.
