Column: One Unit. One Team.

By Laura Damelio

A team that was reluctantly disbanded for the 2010 season due to age conflicts, the Wolverines, is coming back strong.

Half of the boys needed to move up to U-11 and the other half needed to stay at U-10. With Hopatcong being such a small town, options were limited. It was a hard decision, but it was agreed it was what was best.

Coach Corde Motyka and coach Rob Wilson kept the younger boys in town playing U-10 while coach Mike Damelio moved over to the Lenape club with the older boys playing up at U-12.

This was a necessary move in order to keep everyone playing. And at the end of the day, that was what was most important. Both teams did well over all. However, the spirit of the Wolverines was missing. “One unit!” is the team’s motto, a lesson coach Corde and his staff worked so tirelessly to teach the kids, would no longer be a way of life for half of the boys and it showed.

After one and a half seasons playing apart, this spring marked the reunion of the Wolverines.  A powerhouse of players that are in the sport to win, who understand the game and who all have the determination to bring a winning season to the Hawks club!

With the combined talent of the coaching staff of coach Corde, coach Rob and coach Mike, the parents and the players felt confident that this was going to be the year for the Wolverines.

Overall, the boys have been playing fantastic, as good as you can expect, but something has been amiss.

No one could quite put their finger on it!

Maybe it was the lack of practice time due to the crazy winter, the fields not being ready, the lack of indoor facilities or maybe it was just luck.

Going into the Walkill Valley game with a 0-1-4 record was not at all what was anticipated at the beginning of the season. Strong returning players like Robert Cahn, AJ Damelio, Natan Savage, Alex Pislaru and Devin Belotti were key into coach Corde’s strategy.

The goalie, Brett Motyka, has been tremendous all season, letting very few shots by him, most of them penalty shots that simply were just out of his control.

The defenders and midfielders have been relentless with keeping the ball on the other side and away from the goal. Nick, Bradley and Justin have just been exceptionally smart.  You couldn’t ask for better players.

Natan, Robert and Alex are all strong defenders who are determined to clear any ball that dares to enter their zone. Shane Wilson can play the entire field as center-mid without coming up for air.

All season the Wolverines have had strong corner kicks, amazing throw-ins and perfectly-placed free kicks. All that was missing was that elusive little bit of luck. So with that in mind, last Sunday was going to be different.

The boys went into the game with a vengeance, with a drive that they want to win. And that they did.

It was mid-afternoon and it was cloudy and the air was thick. Humidity and an early rain made for a slick field. But we overheard our goalie saying, “Nothing was coming into his net.  Not this week!” And nothing did!

In the first few minutes of the game, Devin Belotti scored to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead over the 3-0-2 Walkill Valley team.  It was a great morale-builder for the Wolverines, but with 75 more minutes of playing time, anything was still possible.

We had been in this position before, but with the results ending the other way. The team held on and kept the score the same until right before the end of the first half. A penalty was called on green, but the Wolverines’ goaltender had his defense immediately build a wall, which blocked the net and caused the direct kick to go wide!

Brett had tremendous support of his teammates on that one!

During the second half, the Wolverines moved to their goal on several occasions. Strikers Devin, AJ and Justin all had shots going wide or were easily collected by Walkhill’s goalkeeper. A few turnovers due to offsides calls didn’t help much in that respect, either.

A beautiful corner kick from Natan set right in front of the goal almost got knocked in by a pack of Wolverines waiting in front of the net, but the goalie came up with it and left another missed opportunity for the Wolverines. Still the score stayed the same at 1-0.

Soon after, a short goal kick led to Shane Wilson driving the ball back to the right corner, which Brendan Wakefoose received and kicked directly into the 18 in front of the goal, AJ Damelio was there and, with a lead, headed it straight into the net. That amazing shot brought the Wolverines to a 2-0 lead with about 18 minutes left to play.

On the next drive, Wallkill Valley got it down to the goal with a nice shot that goalie Brett jumped on. He quickly punted it long and hard to about mid-field where Robert Cahn and Alex Pislaru were waiting to pounce on it.

A few passes back and forth from Bradley Beckert and Justin Oestriech to Natan Savage on the line then back to Robert set him up perfectly to send a power shot from about the 20-yard line that soared over the goalies head and right into the net.

That put the score at 3-0 with two minutes of play left and sealed the deal for the Wolverines.  It also left the Wallkill Valley squad shut out.

Everyone on the Wolverines team contributed to this win. Every player is an asset. At the end of this game, it was realized what they were missing all along was each other.

These boys are the future stars of Hopatcong soccer and we have three great reasons why: the dedicated coaching staff, the parents and, most of all, the players

One unit. One team.

We are … the Wolverines!