Madison Seniors Gear Up for 'Last Hoorah'

The boys soccer team scored twice in the second half to defeat Parsippany High 2-0 on Monday.

IN SHORT

After a relatively even first half with each team having its chances, Madison came back from the break a different team, more aggressive and more dynamic. Parsippany had its hands full fighting off and stopping Madison at the 30-yard line time and time again. But the relentless pressure provided Madison with a deflected goal by Michael Clemente 14 minutes into the second half.  Just nine minutes later, Anton Benedikt scored the team's second goal with an assist from Vincent Bennett.

DODGER OF THE GAME

Peter Willis, defense—Willis helped stop much of the Parsippany attack and turn the ball back up to the attack.

THEY SAID IT

"We made formation changes (at the half) gearing up for the state playoff and having Chatham in our conference, we moved some guys around to different positions to open up some spots for other kids, and it worked for us in the long run. It was a completely different formation and most of the second half was played on their side of the field. And a fluke goal produces a real goal. Moving forward, 22 seniors, this is it, the last hoorah. We have to win seven more games and we have a state championship.  And right now they have that mentality. These kids have all been playing soccer for quite some time, and this is my first year taking over the varsity program. Movig forward, they know the game plan and we will be trying different things."—Madison head coach Frank Nunez

"We switched our formation giving us a little more offensive power with an extra striker.  There was a lot more space in the middle and a lot more space for me to cover, but I think we really needed to just score a goal and go at them and worry about the defense later."—Peter Willis

"Toward the second half we got a lot more passing and movement off the ball.  We had a lot more control of the ball.  We controlled the possession for the second half.  I think that contributed to our win."—Matthew Hauserman

Up Next - Madison will travel to Dover for a game Thursday, 4 p.m.