Weber’s golden goal PK lifts Schalick over Palmyra in battle of South Jersey Group I’s top two power teams
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE — Joe Mannella has been part of a lot of big wins in his 20-plus years as Schalick’s soccer coach, but he might not have had one with as much grit as the one his Cougars pulled off Monday.
Playing a man down for nearly 55 minutes because of a first-half red card to their captain, the Cougars scored two goals short-handed and kept their opponent at bay to beat Palmyra 2-1 in overtime and take a big step towards claiming the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I tournament.
Schalick came into the game ranked No. 1 in the SJ-I power points standings. Palmyra was No. 2. Both teams have beaten current No. 3 Audubon. The Cougars (12-1) now hold a nearly a seven-point lead over Palmyra (9-3) and Audubon.
To make the win even sweeter, Palmyra beat the Cougars twice last year, including the South Jersey Group I final – in overtime.
This time, it was the Cougars prevailing in overtime, with junior midfielder Jaxon Weber getting the game-winner on a penalty kick 7:19 into the first extra period.
“Result wise, the way they responded to losing their captain is phenomenal,” Mannella aid. “If it were just that, then I would be completely pumped. But we keep having these episodes where we lose a little bit of our discipline and if you want to do the things we want to do, I don’t think you get away with that long term. You’re dodging bullets at that point.
“But soccer wise, today, they answered the called and showed a lot of guts. If you said Palmyra had a 1-0 lead at halftime and you’re down to 10 men what are your odds, but I felt from the way they responded you just felt that wasn’t going to make that much of a difference.”
The Cougars were thrown into the short-handed situation when senior captain Eli Cummings was red-carded for a handball trying to protect the left side of Schalick’s net with 7:35 left in the first half.
Cummings looked like he was instinctively trying to protect his face when Connor Jones’ header bounded his way, but he was carded for intentionally trying to stop a goal-scoring opportunity. The play put Cole McCamy on the spot and he put the PK past Evan Sepers to give Palmyra a 1-0 lead.
After the play the Cougars seemed more determined than ever to get after it.
“After going down 10 men in the first half I felt like it lit a fire in us,” senior midfielder Louis Sepers said. “We came out way harder in the second half, put our heads to it and worked really hard.”
“I feel like I played harder,” Weber admitted, “because he’s our captain and he backs us up on everything and I know I had to go even harder just for him.”
About the only tactical difference was the Cougars moved two strikers up and pinched in their wings.
“It’s rough, but you have to bounce back; you have to pick up your heads and you just play like a team,” sophomore Luke Price said. “You play your normal way of soccer and keep going on from that. You can’t let your head drop.”
They got the tying goal with 25:41 left in the second half when Sepers redirected a shot off his shoulder just inside the left post off a corner kick. He has scored in each of the Cougars’ last four games and three of them have been similar to the one he got Monday.
The goal got the Cougars to overtime, but they were still a man down. Weber won it on a golden goal penalty kick with 2:41 left in the first overtime. It was his third successful PK this year. He was going to shoot to his right, then tucked it into the left side of the cage.
He got the opportunity when Price was shoved by the Palmyra keeper after a scoring chance moments earlier.
“It was really nerve wracking when I saw him go and almost save it, but it went in,” Weber said. “I was going to go right. It’s that little over thinking, but you’ve got to stay confident in what you’ve already done.”
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I
POWER POINTS STANDINGS
(Top 16 through Oct. 14)
| SCHOOL | W-L-T | POINTS |
| Schalick | 12-1 | 25.264 |
| Palmyra | 9-4 | 18.422 |
| Audubon | 9-3 | 18.316 |
| Haddon Twp. | 8-2-2 | 16.669 |
| Woodstown | 10-4 | 16.269 |
| Riverside | 8-5-1 | 14.502 |
| Pitman | 6-5-1 | 13.697 |
| Wildwood | 8-3-1 | 13.398 |
| Maple Shade | 7-4-1 | 12.777 |
| Glassboro | 5-5-1 | 12.317 |
| Penns Grove | 5-6 | 12.159 |
| Gateway | 5-7 | 10.198 |
| Pennsville | 8-6 | 9.214 |
| Clayton | 6-7 | 7.020 |
| Woodbury | 3-8 | 6.764 |
| Buena | 0-9-1 | 5.178 |
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