soccer

The annual home-and-home showdown between Big North Freedom rivals is a regular stop for amybody covering boys soccer in North Jersey.

But before I went out to see the two Top 5 teams face off in a battle of the unbeatens Saturday night (won by Ramapo in typical razor-thin fashion, 2-1), I went out to see a more unexpected battle of unbeatens between Tenafly and Demarest in the Big North National Division.

 

Both teams were 3-0 going into the game, a fact not lost on Tenafly, which had won three games all of last year.

The Tigers got a first-half goal from Elan Wilkenfeld and made it stand up while playing against the wind in the second to beat the Norsemen, 1-0, in front of a raucous student section from both teams.

It was a game that had the coaches of both teams, who have battled through their share of rough times in recent years, talking about the opportunity to be in a tough division race where every game is going to mean something.

“In this division, the margin between winning all your games and losing all your games is nothing,” said Tenafly coach Dave Schiff.

“They’re off to a great start. We’re off to a great start,” Demarest coach Mark Torrie said. “There are no layups in this league.”

And for players who have been through some lean times, there is little more they can ask for.