There were times where Harrison felt like it was mere minutes or a single play away from winning another state title. Instead, those championship hopes were dashed in sudden, devastating fashion.
In the fourth minute of double overtime, Connor Maenner received a long entry pass from Dean Collins at the top of the 18 off a restart. Maenner then dished it to Jason Camardo, who was trailing from the left side and fired a shot under the crossbar to give Sterling a 3-2 victory over Harrison in the NJSIAA Group 2 final at Franklin High School in Somerset.
Camardo’s goal gave Sterling its first state championship in 46 years and denied Harrison from a record 26th state title. Instead, members of the Blue Tide who were seeking their first state championship since 2014, collapsed to the turf in tears as Sterling celebrated a sudden victory.
“It definitely feels sudden. Even more sudden because I don’t think they took a shot (on goal) in the last 60 minutes other than the (two goals) they scored,” Harrison head coach Mike Rusek said. “I had them down for five shots on the game and three of them came in the first half.
“I really was happy with the way we were playing, so that’s what makes it even a little more difficult.”
“Earlier in the game, I had a breakaway and I missed it. I told myself, the next opportunity I’m getting, I’m scoring,” said Camardo. “I told the team that and I’m so grateful I was able to get an opportunity.”
Opportunities felt, at times, few and far between for Sterling in the second half and overtime. And Harrison, despite losing leading scorer Frank Barrera to injury in the 40th minute, had the better of the possession and scoring chances.
Sterling keeper Travis Schmid stopped a Cristian Carranza shot in the 57th minute, deflecting the ball on top of the net, giving Harrison a corner kick. Chris Pereira’s corner bounced around in the box before coming to Christian Barrios, who scored to give Harrison a 2-1 lead with 23:04 remaining.
The lead proved short-lived as just 3:11 later, Ethan Weitzel, on a free kick to the left of the box, sent a shot just beyond the reach of keeper Francisco Apolo for the tying goal.
“I know we had the 2-1 lead,but I still felt the other team had another opportunity in them. Twenty-three minutes left is still a long time,” Rusek said. “We weren’t planning on sitting on a 2-1 lead, but we didn’t even get a chance because they came down and scored.”
Harrison had multiple dangerous offensive opportunities after that, but was unable to break through as Schmid saved a Fabio Falla shot in the 67th minute and aggressively left his net a handful of times to break up other potential chances.
“They were some of the fastest kids I’ve ever seen on a soccer field before, especially playing on turf,” said Schmid, who made seven saves overall. “We watched film on them and I knew that playing these guys was going to be an insane test for me. They’re gifted, they’re technical, they’re fast, they can play physical, they’re well coached and they have guys all over the field that can make plays at any second.”
With the wind at their back for the first half, Sterling was the aggressor in the first eight minutes, before Harrison started to generate some offense of its own.
Sterling struck first in the 24th minute when, after Apolo made a save on Camardo, Maenner scored on the rebound to take a 1-0 lead.
Less than a minute later, Carranza used his speed to create a breakaway opportunity for himself before getting pulled down by a defender in the box. Awarded a penalty kick, Carranza buried the PK to even the score in the 25th minute.
It was Carranza’s ninth goal in 18 games for Harrison after sitting out the first three weeks due to transferring from Ferris. His 26 points were the second most on the team despite the time missed.
“From the moment he came in, he changed our team around,” Rusek said. “He brought us to even another level. In the state tournament, he put the team on his shoulders at times.”
Five days earlier, in the Group 2 semifinals against Glen Rock, Carranza gave the Blue Tide a 1-0 lead with a goal in the 19th minute.Glen Rock evened the score in the 38th minute with a goal by Alex Kim. The game stayed at 1-1 through regulation and two overtimes necessitating penalty kicks.
In PKs, Apollo stopped the fourth Glen Rock PK, setting the stage for Jaiteh, who sent his PK inside the left post to give Harrison the victory and send the Blue Tide to their first state final since 2014.
While Harrison ultimately fell one goal short of its ultimate goal of a state title, it is a group that despite several ups and downs during the regular seasons helped bring the Blue Tide on a state tournament run that the soccer crazed town has come to expect.
“We’re really proud of these guys,” said Rusek. “When we look back on this season, we’re going to be really happy with everything that these kids have done. They gave their heart to this town and I don’t think anyone could ask for anything more than that.”
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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.)