Boys Soccer Falls in 2nd OT

Editor's note, correction: The name of the Millburn head coach is Jason Robinson. He was incorrectly identified in an earlier version of the story.

It was a North 2, Group III semifinal featuring the No. 2 and 3 seeds, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

A game that saw two teams fight and claw throughout regulation and the majority of two overtime periods without a goal, ended suddenly, when David Gill fired a shot from the top of the box past Millburn goalie Todd Cohen, leading the Chatham boys soccer team to a 1-0 victory in Millburn.

Chatham will face No. 1 seed Scotch Plains in the North 2, Group III final on Friday.

"The ball just popped in the air off of somebody’s shot, and the ball came to me and I was lucky enough to put it in," Gill said. "We definitely knew it was going to be a tough game. The scouting report said they were all physical players, so we were expecting it."

With each team positioning five players in the midfield on Tuesday, scoring chances were at a premium. The extra attention to the midfield, combined with stellar defensive efforts on both ends, resulted in both clubs failing to to double digits for shots on goal.

But despite the sparse scoring opportunities, a few situations late in the game inspired gasps and groans from the bleachers, as great saves and favorable – or unfavorable - bounces, kept fans on the edge of their seats.

With eight minutes remaining in regulation, Chatham's Trip Burke – who was being tended to by trainers on the sideline just minutes earlier because of leg cramps - broke free with the ball and faced a one-on-one chance with Cohen. With the entire Chatham bench standing in anticipation, Burke's shot fired off of the near post and out of bounds, breathing some life back into Millburn and its fans.

“To come to a state semifinal like this and have to take them down, when they’ve competed in so many county finals and state finals over the five or six years, that’s a very tough team to beat,” Chatham head coach Gene Foca said after the win.

“I’ve seen them [the Millers] play four or five times this year, and they’re very, very good.”

While Millburn’s chances came half as often as visiting Chatham’s (shots were 8 to 4), the Millers challenged the Chatham back line throughout the second half and in overtime, nearly locking up a trip to the finals with a few set pieces and headers that forced Chatham goalie Brian Petrunik off his feet.

But it was Gill who wouldn’t waste the opportunity, firing the goal that ignited one team in celebration, and left the other in disbelief.

“I can’t be more proud of my guys," Millburn head coach Jason Robinson said. “We had people literally leave everything on the field, and as a coach, there’s no shame in losing when you play a good game."

"Someone’s got to win, someone’s got to lose," Robinson continued. "No matter who won or who lost, someone was going to feel terrible and someone was going to feel great.”