SPORTS

South Plainfield boys soccer upsets Monroe in GMC Tournament

Daniel LoGiudice
@danny_logiudice

MONROE - In a Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament that’s been devoid of a major upset thus far, the South Plainfield boys soccer team played spoiler to Monroe’s tournament dreams on Tuesday.

Sixth-seeded South Plainfield defeated third-seeded Monroe 1-0 in the quarterfinals on a goal from junior Deshai Smith with less than 15 minutes left in the game.

The Tigers will face second-seeded New Brunswick on Thursday in the semifinals.

“It’s a good moment,” Smith said. “I’m happy to be here and to celebrate with my team.”

Smith came on as a substitute early in the first half and was on the field to start the second half. After 65 minutes of scoreless soccer, Smith sparked the offense and scored when he received a throw in from junior Jacob Villacres in the box.

“We don’t practice that play at all,” Villacres said. “It just happened in the game.”

The goal came as a result of a dominant second half courtesy of the Tigers. They controlled the midfield, dominated possession and had many opportunities on net.

“If they don’t have the ball, they can’t score,” Villacres said. “Them not having the ball is a win for us.”

With urgency at a high, Monroe became much more aggressive offensively. It had many opportunities, including a corner kick that was placed right in front of the net, but junior goalkeeper Nick Plate was exceptional between the posts.

Plate also stood tall early in the first half. Monroe came flying out of the gates and took three shots on goal within the first five minutes of the game, but Plate made one exceptional save after another.

“You have to give credit to Nick Plate, he played outstanding,” South Plainfield coach Anthony Perfilio said. “He busts his butt and made some unbelievable saves. Without him, we definitely don’t win.”

Plate’s dominance and Monroe’s inability to finish kept the Falcons out of the semifinals.

“We didn’t finish our opportunities,” Monroe coach Steven MacKenzie said. “We’re not doing enough inside the box, we’re not finishing our combinations and we’re not making things happen.”

The Tigers next face off against New Brunswick, a team they’ve lost to twice this year, including a 8-0 trouncing on Sept. 17. If they want a chance at the title, they’ll have to stop one of the most potent offenses in the state.

“I always say it’s hard to beat a team three times,” Perfilio said. “We can score on them, the question is can we stop them from scoring.”

With one upset already in their back pockets, the Tigers have confidence going into the tough matchup.

“I think we got them this time,” Villacres said.

Staff Writer Daniel LoGiudice: dlogiudice@gannettnj.com