West Essex Soccer Tops Caldwell 2-1

The coaches of Caldwell and West Essex high schools' boys soccer teams are still unsure of the identities of their squads.

Monday afternoon's game–won 2-1 by the Knights at West Essex–didn't do much to solve the riddle. West Essex improved to 2-2, and the Chiefs fell to 2-1.

Junior left halfback Mike Steets scored both West Essex goals. His game winner came with about 10 minutes left in the second half. Junior forward Alex Chelius scored for the Chiefs, who were beaten by West Essex three times last season.

West Essex carried the bulk of the play, and did have several chances to really put the game away. But it was the Knights that looked to be on their heels late in the game as Caldwell seemed to pick up the energy.

"It was sloppy, very sloppy on our part,'' said West Essex coach Mike Giampapa. "Our passing was off. We had some kids with a lot of energy, and others who didn't have a lot of energy. We're still learning how to play.''

Giampapa said the team simply hadn't reached consistency yet.

"We have some very skilled players, but our problem is that we're up and down,'' he said. "We're lacking on the consistency side. We're a developing team. We don't have any superstars.''

Asked how the team could improve, he smiled.

"You have to keep going out to practice, working hard at practice, and hopefully they'll come around,'' he said. "We have to learn to close a game out, so we can keep a lead with 10 or 12 minutes left in a game.''

Chelius took advantage of a Knights' defensive mistake and chipped the ball into the net to tie the game at 4:32 of the first half.

"It was off a free kick, they were going to head the ball and missed and I kind of popped it and volleyed it over the goalie's head and tucked it in,'' said Chelius, whose goal was his first of the season.

"Alex was able to chip it,'' said Caldwell coach Alan Branigan.

Steets' goals were also his first of the season.

"First one was off a rebound. It hit the crossbar and one my players couldn't get to it and I took the shot and put it in the left side,'' Steets said.

Like Giampapa, Caldwell coach Alan Branigan isn't sure what he has.

"It's a game of chances and we made some stupid plays here in the defensive area and they convert and we only get a handful of opportunities and we can't seem to get the goals, we're just unlucky,'' said Branigan.

"They're a confident team. They know what they want to do. And they execute pretty well," said Branigan about the day's competition. "We're still a club that is not quite sure where we stand. We have guys who don't play all year, we have guys who play multiple sports, so we come out here and it's a work in progress. ''

Junior middle Matt Mihalik had a chance to score a memorable ball on a header into a wide open net with 8:48 left in the second half.

"Instead of hitting it where the ball came from, he tried to knock it over to the other corner; that would have been an incredible goal, but it's a game of inches,'' Branigan said.