Whippany Park upset previously unbeaten Montville 2-0 in the quarterfinal round of the Morris County Tournament on the turf field at the Montville Recreation Center on Sunday. The seventh-seeded Wildcats advance to the semifinal round against Delbarton next Sunday. Roxbury and Randolph are the other semifinalists. The Mustangs, the defending tournament champions and seeded second overall, will have to come back and regroup for division and state honors.
1st
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2nd
Total
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Montville (11-1-1)
0
0
0
Whippany Park (8-3-2)
1
1
2
IN SHORT
Montville had been tremendous on the defensive end, allowing only three goals all season. The Mustangs were stunned from a goal by the Wildcats’ Ricky Tango in the eighth minute to fall behind 1-0. Montville had its scoring opportunities but they were often thwarted by Wildcats goalkeeper Anil Vegesna who made several critical saves. He was also helped by the crossbar on one Mustangs blast early in the game. In the second half, the Mustangs had to become more aggressive on offense. They would outshoot the Wildcats 16-8 in the game. Montville’s attack-minded tactics left it open for Whippany Park counters. In the 58th minute, Whippany Park took advantage when Tyler Raffo banged out a beautiful diagonal ball from the midfield that Jim Coiley ran onto and struck a magnificent open shot from just outside the box to cement the Wildcat lead.
MUSTANGS OF THE GAME
Zach Adler, Mikey Georgiades—Both players struck second-half shots worthy of tying the contest but were robbed by brilliant saves from Whippany Park keeper Anil Vegesna.
OTHER KEY PERFORMANCES
Tyler Raff (Whippany Park), Wildcats standout was credited for assists on both goals and gave the Mustangs plenty of grief with his skillful play; Anil Vegesna (Whippany Park), goalkeeper made five good saves and diffused several dangerous situations with punch outs in the box.
THEY SAID IT
"They (Whippany Park) put a lot of numbers behind the ball and a little miscommunication on an early goal gave them a little confidence. In the second half I thought we had some better play but they outhustled us a little bit. When a team digs deep and wants it a little more, that’s the end result. We had some good chances and chances you have to put away. In the first half we had a couple of sitters. That’s the crazy thing about soccer. Anyone can win on any day. … I think the boys will rebound. This team has a lot of character. We haven’t gotten the results that we’ve earned without having a lot of character. They will be down for a day but by Tuesday we will be back at it."–Montville Head coach Jon Lopuski
