MCT: Boys Soccer Preview (Prelim Round)

MCT: Boys Soccer Preview
Boys Soccer – Morris County Tournament Preview
Sept. 28-29, 2007

The 2007 Morris County Tournament begins this weekend with the preliminary games. The top nine seeds, based on the coaches voting, have received a bye in this round and will begin MCT play on (or about) Saturday, October 7th. Mendham is the defending Champions. The Minutemen defeated Delbarton in last years’ final held at Cougar Field in Chatham.

Top seeded Delbarton is arguably the most balanced team in the tournament. The Green Wave possess it all, but were not rewarded by getting the winner the battle that will take place in the 16/17 match up. All games are scheduled for at the higher seed’s home field for the 1st three rounds. The Quarterfinals will be held at Morris Catholic on Saturday, October 21st at 12:00 and 2:00. Please note that the girls’ games will be held at the same time, so get there early because parking will be at a premium. I have been told that the AD’s will try to avoid conflict if the boys and girls teams from one school are scheduled to be playing at the same. The championship match will be held at Chatham’s Cougar Field at 12:00. The Girls play after and are scheduled for 2:00

The preliminary round:

(17) West Morris at (16) Parsippany: This is a great opening match –up, a brutal game by any means. Both teams play brutal schedules and as a result of a sub-par record have dropped (somehow) to 16 & 17. Parsippany played a scoreless first half with Chatham earlier in the week before falling 3-1. Keeper James Jones stopped 16 shots in the match and can keep the Red Hawks in this game. West Morris moved to 3-4 after knocking off East Orange on Wednesday. Note that West Morris knocked off Randolph (the 12-seed) 4-0 on opening day and can be explosive, but have also been blanked on more than one occasion. Parsippany just knocked off West Essex, 2-1. Overall, this one is too tough to call and will probably end up in overtime or going to kicks. I’m going with West Morris on kicks.

(21) Mt. Olive at (12) Randolph: It’s always a shame when two conference teams get matched up in the first round. The Rams fell to Seton Hall 3-1 this past Wednesday. The game was tied 1-1 at the half. This was the only goal allowed by the 7-0 Pirates. The Rams were 4-2 on seeding day. Mt. Olive fell to 0-6-1 after a 1-1 tie with Livingston and loss to Morristown early in the week. Although this will be a good time for the Marauders to notch one in the win column, we’re going with the Rams to advance and meet up with Parsippany Hills.

(20) Boonton at (13) Mountain Lakes: The Lakers passed by the Bombers 2-1 in their 1st meeting. Mountain lakes needed two second-half goals to erase a 1-0 deficit en route to victory. The winner of this close battle will move on to face Morris Catholic. Going with the home team in a close one.

(19) Dover at (14) Morristown: The Tigers are 2-4 going into today’s match-up with Chatham, but a 1-0 victory over a tough Summit team on Wednesday. Morristown is 3-3 with Livingston on the schedule today. You can’t argue that wither plays a tougher schedule, since both sides of the IHC are strong. Morristown just looks to have more weapons. Colonials by two goals.

(22) Jefferson at (11) Morris Hills: I have the utmost respect for Jefferson Boys Soccer for entering the MCT (I do not know why the Girls did not). Jefferson fell to 1-7 after a 3-0 loss to Kittatinny. The Falcons only win came at the hands of High Point (then 0-7) last Monday, a 4-2 victory. Andrew Gallant scored twice in the victory. Other than that, Jefferson has been shut out, except a 2-1 loss Hopatcong. The Scarlet Knights are strong and have not played to their (and many others) expectations. A few losses have forced the Scarlet Knights to refocus, as well as try to get back to full strength. The addition of Adam Katz, back from a head injury suffered against Morris Catholic in the preseason will only help. Morris Hills advances.

(23) Pequannock at (10) Madison: These NHC foes are scheduled to meet for the 1st time on Tuesday. Hey... we’re all friends here … so let’s play two. The Dodgers have won 6 of their last 7 and are now 6-4-1. The last two wins for the Dodgers were both by one goal (1-0 over Butler, 2-1 over Orange). Pequannock is now 0-7. A 2-1 loss to Lakeland has been their closest match. Madison should win both games.

(18) Butler at (15) Morris Knolls: Wins over Cedar Grove and Boonton have been highlights for the bulldogs. A 1-0 loss to Madison was definitely a tough battle. Keeper Tyler Marion notched 11 saves against Madison and will be tested often by the powerful 15th-seeded Golden Eagles. Again, seeds are only numbers, and a sub-500 record does not earn you a great seed. But The Eagles are my dark horse for the final 4. That was even before Friday’s win over Randolph. Can you call that an upset? Yes and no. The Rams are now 1-game under 500 while Knolls is even at 4-4. Knolls is very physical and plays every outing like it’s their last game of the year. They are very physical and have been battle tested. An overtime win over Livingston is easy evidence of that fact. I witnessed all three goals scored near the end of the match and in the final few seconds. Knolls advances to a sure candidate for the Marquee match-up of the 1st Round.

Players to watch in the prelim’s:

(1) Sean Paul – Morris Knolls – You will not see Pauls on the top-scorer list, but do not be surprised when he start walking up the list. This kid is a play maker, as seen in his set of the only goal against Randolph. A healthy Pauls equals a Knolls team that maybe able to not only knock off Kinnelon, but can definitely knock off one or more of the other teams in the very tough lower bracket.

(2) Rodrigo Santiago & Adam Katz – Morris Hills – A healthy Katz will leave teams the in quandary? Double Santiago and risk allowing Katz and company a possible free look, or just pack 9 players in the box?

(3) Sasha Dobrijevic - Parsippany – The senior last connected against West Essex and due to find the back of the net. With a cast like Andrew Rodriguez, Dela Allorbi and Ameen Kandil, the speedy forward maybe a game changer against the Wolfpack.

(4) Jim Rehahan – Mtn. Lakes – With double digit goals on the season already, Rehahan is an easy candidate for a multi-goal game. At worst, he’ll draw the defense away from Schaefer and other Laker attackers. Schaefer and Rehahan scored both goals in the previous meeting with the Bombers.

(5) John Machado – Boonton – The senior knocked in four goals in a 4-3 victory over Verona. The forward also knocked in both goals in a 3-2 loss to Kinnelon early in the season. Another hot day from the Bomber and it could be bombs away for the Lakers.