West Orange Soccer Stopped Short of a County Title

On a cold Thursday night on October 25th, the boys soccer team played the Essex county semi-finals against Montclair. Montclair is undefeated this season and is ranked 3rd in the state. In a regular season matchup, the Mountaineers fell 3-0 to Montclair, so they were out for revenge last night.

The game started off at a fast pace and West Orange kept even with the Mounties in the first half. Kalleo Mendes of West Orange even fired a shot off the post early on. Montclair didn’t have any good chances except for one tough shot in which goalkeeper, AJ Petrucci made a diving safe.

The two teams were able to match each other in the second half and so the game ended scoreless in regulation. The teams gathered and headed to overtime. Immediately the Mountaineers were on their heels when Montclair was awarded a free kick about 2 minutes in from about 24 yards out. The shot smashed off the crossbar and then cleared. Once again the game was scoreless going into the second overtime.

With 2:55 left in the second overtime, a penalty shootout seemed inevitable. However, Montclair proved this wrong when a corner kick by Phillip Cubeddu of Montclair was fired to the back post, volleyed off the post, and finished by Evan O’Brien.

The Mountaineers were stunned, as they were 3 minutes away from a penalty shootout with one of the best teams in the state. Next Saturday on November 3rd, Montclair will face Seton Hall Prep for the Essex County title.