Smit’s OT Goal Gives Colts Neck First Victory

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MIDDLETOWN – It wasn’t easy, but Colts Neck (1-3) broke into the win column Saturday with a 9-8 overtime upset win over Middletown North, thanks in part to some late heroics from junior Thijs Smit.
North (5-3), rallying from a 6-2 third quarter deficit, had tied the game at 7-7 with 1:06 left on a goal by Ryan Aker to force the over time, but the Cougars won the critical opening faceoff in the over time.
Taking advantage, the Cougars won the game just 33 seconds into the overtime when Smit scored from five yards out.
“To be honest, it wasn’t a set play,” said Smit, who scored his fifth goal of the season. “I just got the ball and shot. It’s a relief to win our first game. We worked hard for it.”
Smit, who was the starting goalie for the Colts Neck soccer team, had scored with 4:45 remaining to give Colts Neck an 8-7 lead, but Aker tied the game, and that set up Smit’s winning over time goal. “It was a long time coming,” said Colts Neck coach Jeff Rosenberg, “but we had played three tough teams coming into this game, and North had a good team also. “We were fortunate to win the face off and put the ball in the cage,” he said, “but we have a very young team. We lost 15 seniors from last year’s 9-8 team.”
Colts Neck got off to a quick 2-0 lead in the first quarter on goals by Chris Bisignano and Vince Garguilo, but goals by North’s Bryan Flannigan and Khristin Acosta tied it at 2-2.
Colts Neck then appeared to have the game under control by scoring four straight goals, two of them by Garguilo, who had three goals and an assist in the game, to grab a 6-2 advantage. Bisignano and Jack Schaefer had the other two goals.
Justin Russo and Flannigan, though, scored successive goals for North to close the gap to 6-4.
Schaefer scored his second goal to make it a three-goal lead for the Cougars, but North tied it on goal by Tom Terranova and that set the wild finish.
“It was tough to lose it in over time,” said North’s first year varsity coach, Andrew Hilla, “but we’ve been playing very well this season. We’ve only been playing on the varsity level for two years.”
Colts Neck goalie Andrew Halmi had 15 saves for the Cougars while North’s Kevin Powers had 15 for the Lions.
 – By Jim Hintelmann