Chatham Men's Soccer Focuses on Pequannock

After 25 minutes of play, an impending rain storm forced officials to postpone Chatham's men's soccer game against Hanover Park Thursday. Chatham now sets its focus toward Monday's game at Pequannock High School.                

"We watched them a week ago play Whippany Park and came away really impressed at their skill level," said Chatham head coach Gene Foca, who considers Pequannock head coach Carl Strong one of the best in the state. Foca went on to add "their defense is solid and goalie is tall and rangy, has good hands and distributes the ball well."                

Pequannock is known for its "flat back 4" defense, which is a tight knit defensive concept difficult for most high school teams to grasp, but Foca remains optimistic the Cougars can beat it. "We're going for passes vertically through the gaps and then push it to the strong side," Foca said.                

Chatham has just one practice before taking on Pequannock on Monday in Pequannock where the Cougars were defeated last season.

"Pequannock isn't my favorite place to go, it's a long trip which makes playing a tough team even tougher," Foca said.