West Orange Falls Short in Rivalry Game to Seton Hall

It was a disappointing result certainly, but just one game — a special game for sure — in a long season.

That was the philosophy taken late Thursday afternoon by West Orange High School boys soccer coach Doug Nevins and his team after the Mountaineers let a 2-0 lead evaporate and lost 3-2 loss to rival Seton Hall Prep at Lincoln Field.

"It's one of 25 games, so I'm sure we'll play not only in the regular season, but probably counties," said Nevins, whose team lost to the Pirates in the Essex County Tournament final last season. "But they possessed the ball really well."

The Mountaineers, who came into the game with a 3-0 record with 15 goals, built a 2-0 lead on senior star Jelani Williams’ one-on-one goal in the 44^th minute and senior Justin Mault’s score 5:44 into the game off a breakaway. Senior Brian Marsh crossed the ball on the ground, junior Kazari Trought made a good fake as if he'd take the shot before Mault finished.

"Those two goals really brought us up as a team; we thought we'd have a win, but with this heat … it got us tired," Mault said. "Seton Hall is a good team and was moving the ball around a lot, we got a bit tired, but we'll see them again, definitely."

Junior midfielder Erik Sa scored twice in the second half before the Pirates took a 3-2 lead on senior forward Mike Vilarino’s goal with 12:35 remaining in regulation. He was assisted by Tim Mulrenan, who said he will be attending Villanova on a lacrosse scholarship.

"We'll see them next time," Mault said.

Prep's ball movement resulted in it having an 18-3 advantage in shots taken. Mountaineer senior keeper Mike Lawler, taking over for the graduated Thomas Attamante, made nine saves. 

"Some of the guys … this was their first big, big game," said Nevins about his first-year varsity players. "I thought that for most of the game they rose to the occasion and played well, but all it took was a few mistakes. You always credit the team that scores the goals — the free kick (by Sa) and the one bending into the corner was beautiful. In the end it was fatigue, chasing the ball that wore us down, we even stuck Jelani in the middle to settle it down."

Sa converted a direct kick — that was called after West Orange was penalized for a hand ball — was pivotal, getting Seton Hall (2-0) on the board.

"It was a beautiful free kick, but not a hand ball," Nevins said.

The two teams play again Thursday, Oct. 6 at Prep. In the meantime, West Orange will play at Livingston Friday afternoon, while Seton Hall Prep plays at East Side.