HARRISON —
For the first time in a decade, the Harrison boys soccer team is back in the state final.
Yusufu Jaite’s goal in the fifth round of penalty kicks was the game-winner for the Blue Tide as it defeated Glen Rock in PKs by a 5-3 margin in Tuesday night’s NJSIAA Group 2 semifinal at Harrison High School. The teams were tied 1-1 through 80 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods.
Harrison, seeking its historic 26th state title and first since 2014, will play Sterling in the Group 2 final on Sunday at 5:40 p.m. at Franklin High School in Somerset. The game will also be livestreamed on NJ.com.
Both teams converted each of their first three penalty kick opportunities. Then, in the fourth round, Harrison’s Cristian Carranza scored and keeper Francisco Appolo made a diving save to give the Blue Tide a 4-3 lead heading into Jaite’s decisive kick.
Back in the 19th minutes, Carranza gave Harrison a 1-0 lead with a goal in the 19th minute. Glen Rock countered in the 38th minute with Alex Kim’s game-tying goal.
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)