Brearley completes another upset, beats Middlesex in CJG1 boys soccer final

With no score at halftime between ninth-seeded Brearley and third-seeded Middlesex, it seemed that whichever team scored first could secure enough momentum to end up victorious in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 1 boys soccer final.
Midway through the second half, Brearley, which has had to deal with injuries to key players like senior midfielder David Lopes and others this season, first found the back of the net courtesy of a ball from senior midfielder Evan Scaff.
Minutes later junior midfielder Luiggi Cedeno found the back of the net to solidify a 2-0 victory on Middlesex’s home field.
“We were hoping (Lopes going down) was not going to happen,” Brearley head coach Vinny McGowan said, reflecting on Lopes’ recovery from an ACL injury.
“We knew that it was a possibility. David is a warrior and he’s come back and done everything that he has needed to do to put himself on the field. He’s got us to this point. I know he’s disappointed that he got hurt but you saw his teammates how they were hugging him and picking him up.”
Neither team had many productive opportunities in the early parts of the first half. Middlesex senior midfielder Diego Ortiz could not convert a free kick with 30 minutes left in the half but had a good look at the ball. It was one of the strongest opportunities Middlesex had early on.
McGowan agreed that while the game was majority back-and-forth in the first half, whoever opened the scoring was going to be able to secure the momentum.
“We played within ourselves so we didn’t try to do too much. And although they ran a really great offside trap that was really effective, we weren’t able to penetrate on that,” McGowan said. “Once we got a goal then it changed the game and the momentum.”
Middlesex had multiple free kick opportunities after fouls forcing Brearley senior goalkeeper Gabriel Jorge to make some leaping saves. Perhaps Jorge’s biggest save came late in the second half with his team up 2-0 and minutes away from the title,
“I would take all the credit but I have to give it to No. 20 Logan Pires, he came up to me before and coached me up and told me ‘He’s going to place it, he’s a righty, he’s going to go this way.’ so I trust my teammates,” an elated Jorge said. “Now look at what happened.”
Had that ball gone in, Middlesex head coach Jason Swain said the entire fabric of the game shifts.
“It certainly changes the way I think my team felt,” Swain said. “At 2-0 with waning time, we’re feeling down, we just lost our team captain. (If) we get that goal and it’s 2-1 … it’s a whole new ballgame. We’re now feeling high and they’re still going to sit back but at least we feel like we can get on their side.”
Brearley being a nine seed placed them in the middle of the pack within the tournament. It didn’t have the strongest start to the season facing multiple larger schools. But getting to the sectional championship game required it taking down some of the sections best.
On Nov. 8 it defeated top-seeded Shore Regional 3-1 in the second round of the sectional tournament. The one Shore goal was the only one Brearley allowed in the tournament’s entirety.
Middlesex’s path was anything but easy. Swain, who was visibly emotional talking about his team, commended his group for how they battled back from a 1-5-1 start to the year to ending it in the sectional final.
“The big thing is how proud I am of them,” Swain said. “The turnaround we made this season to make this run and get to the finals is amazing.”
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