For the Summit Men's soccer team match against A.L. Johnson on Monday afternoon, it was a tale of two different halves. The first half went mostly the Hilltopper's way. The second half was a different story as A.L Johnson picked up the intensity and utilized their speed to defeat Summit at home 3-1.
The first half of the match saw the action go back and forth with Summit getting some potential scoring chances early and goalie Josh Rosen picking up a few good saves at goal to stop A.L. Johnson in their tracks.
After a free kick in the Summit zone missed the mark, Co-Captain Luke Shehata attempted a great header shot which was saved by a nice defensive grab by the A.L. Johnson goalie.
After another save by Rosen, Summit moved the ball down field and kicked it past the trailing A.L. Johnson defenders to an open James Burns who made a great scoring play away from the goalie into the left side of the net to make it 1-0 Hilltoppers at the 13 minute mark.
From that point the game see-sawed from one side of the field to the other and the pace got a little more aggressive as Co-Captain Clayton Johnson was called for a take-out slide while going for the ball which gave A.L. Johnson a free kick. The next time down the field, Clayton was awarded a free kick of his own after he was the victim of an aggressive slide tackle by the opponent.
The tough Summit defense led by Co-Captain Terry McKenna, Conor Donally and Matt Miller seemed to thwart the A.L. Johnson scoring opportunities for most of the first half.
A.L Johnson started to flash some of its speed as Carmelo Andino sped down the sidelines almost the length of the field and was held to a missed shot wide of the net.
Clayton Johnson was awarded his second free kick of the game and booted the ball down field to an open Burns who just missed another goal. Just as quickly, the ball was kicked back into Summit territory by A.L. Johnson whose shot on goal was nabbed by Rosen.
Fortunately for Summit, a combination of good team defense and poor shots taken by A.L. Johnson kept the score in Summit's favor for most of the first half. However, the speed of all the A.L. Johnson players was ominous.
Then Summit goalie Josh Rosen made a good save off of an A.L. Johnson free kick. However, the ball somehow wound up back in Summit territory in a breakaway opportunity for A.L. Johnson's Anthony Trani, resulting in their first goal of the game at the 39 minute mark. The goal seemed to shock Summit and embolden their opponent.
The first half ended after Summit's Manuel Navas just missed a goal after another free kick pass from Clayton Johnson.
The second half started with the ball mostly in Summit territory as Rosen had to keep the onrushing AL Johnson squad at bay with several fine stops at the net.
After a fine header attempt taken by Luke Shehata missed, A.L. Johnson's Trani was on the receiving end of a great downfield pass and sped past Summit's defenders to kick in his second breakaway goal putting them ahead 2-1.
The apparent increased intensity level for A.L. Johnson was difficult for Summit to contain in the second half. Summit began to mount a more aggressive defensive posture but it seemed that their opponent found openings and was just a step ahead.
Each team received a yellow card in the second half. The first of two yellow cards in the game was given to an A.L. Johnson player after knocking down Manuel Navas. Clayton Johnson then missed the free kick over the top of the net. Summit's Nolan Kasbar was hit with a yellow card in midfield a few minutes later for obstructing an opposing player with a high kick.
Then, after the ensuing free kick, A.L. Johnson's Franco Pezella scrambled down field past Summit defenders to score a goal in the left side of the net to make it 3-1. From that point, A.L. Johnson was definitely pumped and picked up their defensive play another notch.
Summit tried valiantly by getting a few more scoring chances but came up empty in the final minutes.
"We were definitely exposed by their speed in the second half. We worked well as a team in the first half and had lots of chances but we seemed down a bit after we gave up that first soft goal, "said Summit first year varsity coach Chris Yeager. "We also need to be more aware of our positioning on the field which tightened up at times in the second half. We will work harder to get ready for Cranford," Yeager added.
Summit is now 1-2 with an upcoming away game on September 22 at Cranford and a home game on September 28 against Roselle Catholic.
