Gov. Livingston Boys Soccer Captures 14th Win

(This story written by Gov. Livingston dad Jeff Bamundo)

Governor Livingston showed no signs of slowing down last night as they came away with their 14th victory of the season, a 2-1 away win over local rivals New Providence.

Playing under the new lights at Lieder Field, and with a vocal group of Pioneers supporters set up in one corner of the grandstand, GL was undeterred from following their pattern of ball control and possession in the early going.  But it took a strong and determined move from Jeramey Robbins to get GL on the board first.

Starting about 30 yds from goal, Robbins began picking up speed and running directly at the heart of the New Prov defense, cutting left and right past 3 different defenders before coolly slotting the ball in for the the lead in the 37^th minute.  It was a breathtaking sequence, not just for the goal at the end of it but for the speed at which the attack took place.  As he started the run, it looked almost inevitable that he would get in on goal and get off a good shot.  This one just happened to settle in the back of the net.

But 11 minutes into the second half, a scramble in front of the GL goal turned into a score for New Prov when Anthony Gonzalez was credited with a shot that first hit the post, bounced back into the field and right off of Sweeper Mike Bamundo who was furiously trying to pull it back before the ball crossed the line and evened the score at 1.

In a reversal of the previous night’s combination, Anthony Oliveira turned provider to Julian Light in an eerily similar move to the pass he received from his teammate vs Dayton on Monday.

This time, it was Oliveira doing a lot of the hard work after winning a ball in the corner to take the play into the 6 yard box and then pulling it back to Light who beat NP goalie Mike Zamora on his near post to give GL the 2-1 lead in the 54^th with what would turn out to be the winning goal.

Max Dooley had his typical solid game at Left Back, while Michael Esposito got the start at Right Back after being deputized and ably filling in for the injured Torben Halvorsen.

Jon Robbins had 8 saves for GL (14-1-1), and Zamora had 10 for New Providence (9-7).

The Highlanders now look forward to a Senior Day encounter with Summit on its own turf field, weather permitting, on Thursday – while they await the final seedings and the name of their first opponent in the States Tournament scheduled to begin next Tuesday.