Millburn Boys Advances in the County Tournament

Mike Budlow had seen his Millburn teammates struggle time and time again Tuesday afternoon in its Essex County Tournament first-round game against Glen Ridge.

But he never lost faith.

"I knew it was a matter of time before we scored," said Budlow, a senior midfielder. "And we were able to finally break through."

Budlow headed in a nice serving pass from Morris Dweck with 13:56 remaining in the second half to lift fifth-seeded Millburn to a 1-0 victory over 12th-seeded Glen Ridge in the final game of the first round of the Essex County tournament on a blustery, rainy day in Millburn on Tuesday.

"Morris put it in the box and I was able to put it away," said Budlow. "It was a good feeling to get that goal."

Millburn was scheduled to play its ECT first-round game on Sunday, but didn't have an opponent yet. Glen Ridge had its preliminary-round game against 21st-seeded Newark West Side postponed until Monday. Glen Ridge advanced to face Millburn with a 6-0 victory.

On Tuesday Millburn (4-3) had the better of play for the game but was stymied by the Glen Ridge goalie tandem of Michael Tringali (three saves in first half) and K.C. Dressing (five saves in second half). Conversely, Millburn goalie Corbin Stevens needed to make just two saves to earn the shutout.

Senior James Raytsin was a standout on the field, often breaking free and making a run down the left flank. His opportunities, however, were stopped by the Glen Ridge keepers. Raytsin's best chance came on a rocket of a shot midway through the second half that Dressing was able to make a nice one-handed block of.

"It was definitely frustrating," said Raytsin. "And we've been a bit of a slump lately. We didn't want this one to slip away."

Millburn is aiming to win its fourth straight ECT championship after winning outright in 2007 and 2008 and sharing the title with Seton Hall Prep last year.

"Its something we talk about all the time," Raytsin said. "It's a huge goal for us. Every time we leave the locker room we all hit the sign that says 'ECT champions.' Its something we want to uphold."

Millburn, which plays at Newark East Side on Thursday at 4 p.m. before hosting Hopewell Valley at 7 p.m. on Friday, will meet fourth-seeded Columbia in a ECT quarterfinal on Sunday.

"This a huge week for us and the Columbia game is really big," said Budlow. "They beat us the first time (4-2 on Sept. 20), so we really want to win that one."

Millburn, which advanced to the NJSIAA Group 3 championship game each of the last two years and won the title in 2008, is young group but one still very-much committed to winning now.

"This was an ugly game, but we were able to come away with the win," said Millburn head coach Rob Grosso. "It was a wet day and we had a lot of chances, but we didn't panic. We eventually put one in."