Stage is set

Woodstown scores twice in final three minutes of regulation, then holds on in OT to tie Penns Grove, set up showdown with Schalick

BOYS SOCCER
Woodstown 2, Penns Grove 2
Schalick 4, Glassboro 0
Clayton 3, Pennsville 0
Gloucester Catholic 7, Salem 0
Salem Tech at Wildwood

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNS GROVE – Woodstown plays the biggest game of the season in South Jersey Group I boys soccer Thursday when it hosts rival Schalick for the TCC Diamond Division title and the presumptive No. 1 seed in the upcoming sectional tournament.

But the matchup would have lost a lot of its juice if the Wolverines didn’t take of business Tuesday. Or if Schalick didn’t either.

Luckily, both teams upheld their end to remain on collision course, but, boy, did Woodstown cut it close.

The Wolverines needed two goals in the final three minutes of regulation to get back in the game and then held on through overtime to earn a 2-2 draw with Penns Grove. Bryce Ayars scored both their goals, with the equalizer coming in the final minute on a pass from Trey Markward, who was pulled up top with his goalie gear on to give them an extra attacker.

“My goodness, way too close,” Woodstown coach Darren Huck said. “I’m proud of the resiliency this team showed, the don’t give up. Even though they were not happy with the way they were playing and we all felt we could be playing better, the will was always there. We just kept coming back, coming  back, coming back. There’s something to say about that.”

Schalick upheld its end with a 4-0 Senior Night win over Glassboro, its seventh win in a row since the loss to Woodstown.

If Woodstown (9-1-2, 6-0-2) wins the showdown, it can win the division outright with just a tie against Pitman in its last division game Monday. If Schalick (11-2-1, 7-1) wins, the Cougars could win it outright beating Penns Grove in their last division game Monday. There are scenarios they could share the title regardless of Thursday’s outcome.

And then there’s the matter of the South Jersey Group I power points standings. Schalick currently holds the No. 1 seed and Woodstown is No. 3, but the cutoff is Saturday and the Wolverines have just reached the threshold where they can start dropping games in the formula.

“The power points that are available on Thursday will have a huge impact on first through third,” Huck said.

“Pulling out a tie after being down 2-0 definitely gives us hope to beating Schalick and taking the division,” Ayars said.

But none of it would’ve mattered if the Wolverines didn’t get a positive result against Penns Grove. And for 77 minutes the Red Devils had them on the ropes.

Prince Ledbetter converted a pass from Joey Schultz with 14:10 left in the first half and Poyraz Erdonmez blasted home the rebound after Markward stoned Juan Ortiz’ penalty kick 10 minutes into the second half to make it 2-0.

The Red Devils held onto the lead until the closing minutes of regulation before the Wolverines came to life.

Ayars got the first goal with three minutes to play on a cross from Nick DiTeodoro, then got the equalizer with about a minute to go with help from an unlikely source. He had a good chance to win it in overtime, but his free kick from right outside the box skittered just past the far right post.

“I was just trying to find different connections I thought could give us a spark out there and give us something to change it up a little bit,” Huck said. “Even if it was a different style of player, someone who maybe is not a threat to score but could be maybe settle the ball a little bit better or pass the ball a little bit better.”

He found that player way back on the end line. With time running out, Markward came all the way up from the goal leaving the crease empty. As fate would have it, the ball came his way and he got just enough touch on it to direct it toward Ayars for the equalizer and his first career assist.

“At first I really wanted to (do it), then I got there and I was scared,” Markward said. “I got a touch on it and was like, ‘Please, God, help me,’ then I kicked it and was like, aw, I missed it, but it was OK, Bryce got me. He’s always there.”

“The first thing I saw was a beautiful touch by the goalie; I didn’t know Trey could do that,” Ayars said. “I think he took a shot or a pass, I don’t really know, that’s up to how he wants to describe that, but it went right to my foot like normal and I just put it away.”

Both games between the teams this year have ended in ties, but this one didn’t leave the Red Devils with the same sense of accomplishment as the earlier meeting. They were that close to beating Woodstown for the first time since October 2022 and couldn’t close it out.

“I kept telling my guys to stop talking about it because a team like Woodstown is never out of it and clearly that’s what happened,” Penns Grove coach Mano Massari said. “Good teams find ways to get back in games no matter how much time is left and that’s exactly what Woodstown did.

“Good teams also know how to close a game out and we didn’t do that, so that’s something we definitely need to improve on if we want to have success moving forward in this season.”

NOTES: By the time overtime started the Wolverines were missing three starters, two of whom went down during the game. At least they could be replaced. The Red Devils played the OT one man down due to an end-of-regulation red card. There were seven yellow cards and one red card issued in the game … The Wolverines are 9-0-1 this year in games Ayars scores a goal.

SCHALICK 4, GLASSBORO 0: Glassboro 0: Mikey Nelson and Anthony Sepers, two of the 11 seniors recognized prior to the game, had a goal and an assist for the Cougars. Luke Price and freshman Jake Sepers scored their other goals.

CLAYTON 3, PENNSVILLE 0: The Eagles missed a chance to clinch a share of the TCC Classic Division title. The still hold a one-game lead over the Clippers and can now clinch a share with a win at Gloucester Catholic Thursday and then clinch its first division title in 32 years Monday against Salem.

GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 7, SALEM 0: Zack Payne scored the first four goals of the game and assisted on another score.