Kang kicks Old Tappan to North 1, Group 3 boys soccer title by Greg Tartaglia of The Record
FRANKLIN LAKES – Sam Kang got the hugs. The North 1, Group 3 championship trophy got the kisses.
Kang, a senior striker, scored the winning penalty kick in sudden death to push No. 3 seed NV/Old Tappan past No. 1 Ramapo, 0-0 (5-4 PK), in Friday’s blustery boys soccer sectional final.
The Golden Knights collected their second North 1, Group 3 title in three years and booked a date in Tuesday’s Group 3 state semifinals against North 2 winner Mendham.
After he was engulfed by ecstatic teammates following his winning tally, Kang gladly wrapped himself in a red flannel blanket provided by his father.
“Just pure joy, happiness, nothing but that,” Kang said.
Those emotions led NV/Old Tappan (14-3-4) players to pass around the trophy and one by one give it a smooch.
Ramapo, which had defeated the Golden Knights for the Bergen County title last month, officially finished 18-2-1 (the NJSIAA counts penalty-kick outcomes as a tie).
As much influence as the wind and cold had on the scoreless draw, both keepers had a greater impact. Jeremy Andreoli had five saves for the Green Raiders, including one in each of the two overtime periods.
NV/Old Tappan’s Matt Burstein made three stops in regulation and two more in PK’s, the last of which set up Kang’s winner. The teams were tied 4-4 after five shooters, and in the first sudden-death round, Lafayette-bound Sebastian Varela led off for Ramapo.
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“I thought, he went [to his left] the first time, I wasn’t going to let him score on me there again,” Burstein said. “I was hoping he’d go the same way, and I just got a hand on it somehow.”
“[Burstein] is great, I’ve known him since kindergarten,” NV/Old Tappan coach Mark Torrie said. “Confidence wasn’t his strong suit when he was a wee boy, but it was brilliant to see him have it today.”
Kang fired a shot to his right for the clincher that made his teammates temporarily forget about the chill.
“When you’re playing in the game, you don’t really think about it much, but today was brutal,” he said. “Even on the field, you felt it.”
Kang, Anthony Contreras, Danny Yun and Brett LaFronz netted the first four Golden Knight penalty kicks, while Varela, Tim Suchora, Chris Heffernan and Dylan Zane scored Ramapo’s four.
Having avenged its 2-1 county final loss, NV/Old Tappan hopes to do the same against Mendham (18-3).
“We played them two years ago in the same game, and we got beat, 2-1,” Torrie said. “So, we’ll see how it goes.”