West Essex and Caldwell played the kind of game Monday that the two rivals have become accustomed to playing. A tight game won by West Essex in West Caldwell.
Greg Scarlata and Nick Gencarelli scored second-half goals to wipe out a 1-0 halftime Caldwell lead and lift the Knights to a 2-1 Super Essex Conference win.
The win extended the Knights (8-5-1) winning streak to five games since a loss in penalty kicks to Nutley in the Essex County Tournament. Caldwell is 5-7-2.
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Junior midfielder Andrew Arcell scored Caldwell's goal off an assist from sophomore forward Bill Evers. West Essex also beat Caldwell 2-1 on Sept. 20.
"It's better to finish strong than start strong,'' said West Essex co-captain and stopper Pat Farrell, who had an assist on the game winner. "We lost in penalty kicks to Nutley and that was tough. We had to get it going.''
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Gencarelli scored the game-winner at about the 70th minute.
"I took a free kick and I kicked it into the middle of the box, there was a scrum and Gencarelli kicked it in,'' said Farrell.
Caldwell senior captain Matt Olsen said it was frustrating since Caldwell played very well in the first half.
"We outplayed them in the first half and there was a lot of pressure, but we just couldn't hold them off,'' said Olsen. "Our team has had trouble scoring goals and it was no different today. Everybody is playing aggressive. But we were doing too much kicking and running. We got that first one, but we couldn't get another.''
Caldwell plays at Nutley Wednesday. West Essex plays host to Livingston Wednesday.
