LAWRENCE TWP. — After meeting up with and falling to Steinert in the postseason in recent years, the Lawrence High boys’ soccer team wanted to change that trend Saturday.
With their defense playing one their best games of the season and the offense doing just enough to get the job done, head coach Jeff Molinelli’s fourth-seeded Cardinals slipped head coach Anthony Tessein’s fifth-seeded Spartans, 1-0, to survive their Colonial Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinal and advance to Wednesday night’s semifinal round at Hopewell Valley High’s Ackerson Field. That night, they will play the winner of yesterday’s matchup between eighth-seeded Allentown and top-seeded Notre Dame.
“We’ve given credit to them the whole season,” Lawrence senior midfielder Raul Sepulveda said. “They’ve all given everything they’ve got to help us get to where we are. They are the backbone of our team.”
And while the older Sepulveda, one of two brothers on the squad (with his younger brother, Luis), keys the offense, he knows fullbacks like senior Krzysztof Zaluska and junior Aiden Phillips are equally valuable at the other end of the field.
Zaluska showed that by pushing into the attack to knock in a corner kick from Raul Sepulveda with 2:41 left in the first half to produce the game’s only goal.
For Zaluska, it was his third goal of the season. For Sepulveda, it was his 17th assist, matching his uniform number.
It also gave the 11-7-1 Cardinals their second win over 11-7 Steinert on their field this season after a 2-1, regular-season victory Sept. 16.
“When we are up there, I definitely look for either Krzysztof or Aiden,” Sepulveda said. “They know how to push into the attack, and how to get the job done.”
The way both teams were going at each other, it did not seem as though that would be the lone goal. But with Zaluska, Phillips, senior Juan Revolorio-Ventura and junior Hector Tenorio-Perez refusing to crack in front of senior goalkeeper Tim Dowd (seven saves), Lawrence held on for their fifth shutout.
“I think it just comes down to certain moments in the game…split-second stuff,” Spartans senior fullback Ryan Checkowski said. “We knew after that tough stretch of games (four consecutive losses earlier this month) that we could compete. Now it’s about more than just competing. It’s about getting the job done.”
Checkowski, one of the team’s captains, and his backfield mates seniors Bayron Godinez and James German, plus junior Ryan Kelleher worked equally hard in front of junior goalkeeper Andrew Ivens (10 saves) to fend off any further damage from the Cardinals’ improved attack, which also saw Raul Sepulveda strike a shot off the crossbar with 14:20 to go.
“We wanted to bring our hard work and dedication to the forefront today,” Sepulveda said in front of his excited teammates and coaches. “We had met up with them in the postseason and lost every year I’ve been here. That motivated us today. We worked just as hard to get it done.”
Steinert (11-7) 0 0 — 0
Lawrence(11-7-1) 1 0 — 1
Goal: Zaluska (L); Assist: RSepulveda (L). Shots: 7 (S), 13 (L); Saves: Ivens 10 (S), Dowd 7 (L).
