Advancement in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 playoffs was on the line but the third-seeded Cranford High School Cougar soccer boys had another milestone in mind when they hosted the 14th-seeded Carteret Ramblers at Memorial Field in Cranford on November 5. The 12-5-2 Cougars achieved both when they overwhelmed the 6-12-1 Ramblers, 6-1, and earned Cougar Head Coach Greg Campbell his 100th career win.
Sophomore midfielder Charlie Springer scored twice for the Cougars and freshman Gabe Malin netted a goal and dished out a pair of assists. Senior midfielder Jabez Johnson, junior forward Manan Shah and sopho- more forward DanAngulo each scored once. Freshman Aiden Cogdill and senior forward/co-captain Josh Ketschke, along with juniors Rocco Russomanno and Colin Reilly provided assists. Junior goalkeeper Jakub Braitling recorded three saves then junior Keith Skupeen entered midway through the second half and added a spectacular save.
The Ramblers did not seem to pose much of a threat as the Cougars dominated the first half and grabbed a 3-0 lead. Four minutes into the second half, the Ramblers did attempt to create some concern when a free kick sailed over the crossbar. But that ended shortly afterwards when a Cougar right-side corner kick by Malin sailed into the box where Johnson, used his head to get the ball past the Carteret goalkeeper for a 4-0 lead with 34:45 left in the game.
Four minutes later, Malin tried to get into the act and drilled a sharp right-to-left shot that skid laterally across the box and just out of harm’s way. With 29:36 on the clock, Ketschke got on the left side of the box and made a short tap to the center where Malin flicked it in for a 5-0 score. From that point onwards, Coach Campbell left it up to his reserve players to finish the game.
“It was great to get the convincing result and that every player on the roster was able to play a part in it. It was also a great day for me personally as it marked my 100th win as head coach for the program,” Coach Campbell revealed.
Next on the list would be a matchup with the sixth-seeded, 13-5-1 Colonia Patriots on November 8. The Patriots defeated Nutley, 4-1, in their quarterfinal. The two have met before and the Cougars edged the Patriots, 2-1, on October 5.
“I was very happy with the response from our team. We talked every day about the focus on energy, aggressiveness and movement off the ball and saw all three of those phases come together in the first half. Our press had the right intensity, we played well into wide areas and capitalized on mistakes through hard work to challenge their defenders,” Coach Campbell explained. “It was an exciting step forward for the team and I’m excited to see us take all of those same things to the next level in a challenging match-up verse Colonia in the next round on Friday.”
Carteret 0 1 1 Cranford 3 3 6
