With one of the most explosive offenses in the state, it never felt like Harrison was ever out of a game, even if it found itself trailing late.
After seemingly finding a way to overcome any and all challenges thrown its way, Friday night’s North 2, Group 2 final presented one the Blue Tide were unable to conquer.
Facing a Madison team ranked No. 8 in the state, Harrison was unable to crack a stellar Dodgers defense as Madison scored two second half goals to earn a 3-1 victory and end Harrison’s season with a 20-4-1 record.
“I think in the second half they were able to implement their system more on the game than we were. And that’s the one disappointing part of it,” Harrison head coach Mike Rusek Jr. said. “I think the first half, we were both still filling each other out, but by the second half the game really kind of had shifted to their advantage.
“I thought we played a good game. I didn’t think we played a great game, but we needed to play a great game to beat them.”
Tied 1-1 at the half, Madison broke through in the 48th minute when Gui Dos Santos sent a free kick into the box that Nolan Keane headed in at the near-post.
Roughly 17 minutes later, Dos Santos and Madison struck again when he sent a free kick beyond the far post that was headed in by Andrew Havilland to make it 3-1.
The two second half goals were more than enough for a Madison (18-1-2) team, which has allowed 13 goals all season. The Dodgers dropped their midfielders and used their overall size and strength on the defensive end to force the Blue Tide out of its signature, ball-control, style attack.
“Those guys just really were focused on defending and every time they won the ball, they cleared it out back up to their few offensive guys,” said Rusek. “(After they went ahead) they shut us down defensively. We had a few opportunities in the second half, but we didn’t capitalize on them throughout the game.”
Madison took a 1-0 lead when Dos Santos, one of the state’s top offensive players, scored on a counter in the 31st minute. The advantage was short-lived as Kiandry Aban answered back with a goal of his own less than a minute later to tie it at 1-1.
On a team that scored more goals than any in the state, it was Aban, who had a breakout year and became the Blue Tide’s top scorer.
Three days earlier in the semifinals against Voorhees, Aban scored the game winner in overtime when he made a run and beat a pair of defenders before being brought down in the box. Given a penalty kick after foul, Aban scored to send Harrison back into the final with a 2-1 win.
Harrison trailed most of the game, but in the 74th minute the Blue Tide broke through when Derek Castro brought the ball into the 18, then tapped it backwards to Christian Barrios who scored from 25 yards out with a shot into the corner of the net.
While Barrios and Castro are two of eight seniors who graduate, Harrison returns a deep and strong group that includes eight juniors and eight underclassmen who played varsity this season. It’s a group headlined by juniors Aban, Pedro Barreto Reis, Ezequiel Soto and Anas Oufrid as well as sophomores Jhowy Picon and Johao Narvaez.
“I guess the silver lining of this is that we really do have an exciting group of players (coming back). We’re returning two-thirds of our team next year and those guys played a significant role in our season. They have a wealth of experience and some big game victories on their shoulders already.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)