West Deptford Boys' Soccer Crushes Collingswood to Open Playoffs

For some teams, a 2-0 lead at halftime would be enough to relax a little, maybe take a bit off in the second half.

Not so for the boys' soccer team.

The Eagles knew they were facing a Collingswood team with nothing to lose Tuesday, and a Collingswood team that had scored a goal in each of the previous two matches between the teams this season.

"You can’t leave a team like that hanging around," senior Kyle Redrow said.

The Panthers hung for the early going in the second half, but not for long. Early in the half, Collingswood senior forward Chris Michael and Eagles goalie Kevin Brockway went after a 50-50 ball in front of the net.

On a play that was decided by milliseconds, Michael beat Brockway to the ball, but the keeper got a hand out, knocking the shot out-of-bounds as he and Michael collided. Brockway left the game with a leg injury, but returned after a few minutes on the sideline.

The Eagles were fired up after the play, and scored that cruicial third goal just minutes later. Redrow chased in a header from Joey Mingrino, fired it past Collingswood keeper Dan Robinson, and celebrated by screaming, “It’s over!” to his overjoyed teammates.

Though there was still plenty of time left on the clock, Redrow's cry rung true, as West Deptford coasted the rest of the way in their first-round NJISSA South Jersey Group 2 match, defeating Collingswood 6-0 at .

"We talked about that at halftime: The third goal was most important," West Deptford head coach Ryan Dougherty said. "You go up 3-0, and it closes the door on them.”

It was a door that wouldn't close easily, at least in the early going. Collingswood came out with fire in the first half, challenging West Deptford in every phase of the game.

After 20 minutes of back-and-forth soccer that saw both sides produce some great chances, the Eagles finally broke through after they were awarded a free kick about 30 yards out. Putter Angert sent the kick into the box, and Tim Krott headed it home to put the Eagles up, 1-0.

The call was controversial, as the Panther sideline thought they deserved the kick. The play got increasingly physical between the two division rivals seeing each other for the third time this season. Players were jawing with each other the entire game, and the pushing and shoving allowed by the referees drew the ire of both coaches.

A few minutes after the first goal, senior Joey Pinto put West Deptford up 2-0 when he shot home a low cross from Redrow.

"Pinto’s been making a living out there for me," Redrow said. "Put one across, and he always finds his way there."

After Redrow's goal to make it 3-0, the door not only closed, the house fell apart. The Collingswood defense was clearly worn down and on their heels; Redrow scored his second goal just minutes later, and Krott and Lewis Hunter added late goals to turn the game into a blowout.

That took the pressure off a somewhat banged-up Brockway, who took another breather after the Eagles took a four-goal lead, as well as backup keeper Josh Jones, who made a handful of saves in relief.

"As a defense, we just have to withstand that pressure, then our offense will do the rest," Brockway said. "We just have to hold the fort down and just not give up goals–that’s our mentality."

The Eagles now head to the second round, and will travel to No. 4 seed Middle Township for a 2 p.m. matchup Friday.