Bernards, Gill St. Bernard's boys soccer battle to 2-2 tie

BERNARDSVILLE - The Bernards High School boys soccer team did everything in its power to try and beat rival Gill St. Bernard's on Tuesday, but in the end the Mountaineers couldn't pull off the victory. Fortunately for them, they didn't lose, either.

Bernards (9-1-1) and the Knights (7-2-1) battled to a 2-2 double overtime tie in a Skyland Conference Valley Division matchup on Tuesday afternoon. It was a rematch of the second game of the season for both teams, a game Gill St. Bernard's won 3-2 in overtime.

RELATED: CN/GMC WEEK 6 BOYS SOCCER SCHEDULE

"Hats off to Bernards, they're a good team," Gill St. Bernard's coach Tony Bednarsky said. "We have a lot of respect for them, this has evolved into I think a fierce but respectful rivalry, and it was a typical game. The last three or four years here these games have been have tight, and we expect nothing else."

The Mountaineers bounded out to an early 1-0 lead when Freddy Ludtke headed in a shot off a free kick by Dan Paez just five minutes into the game. Fifteen minutes later Nick Neptune took a pass from Vinnie Cabrera and took a shot from about 15 yards out that got past Gill St. Bernard's goalie Alex Roch for the 2-0 advantage.

"With Gill, they're our long time rivals, we knew it was going to be tough going in," Ludtke said. "I think we started out, those first 20 minutes were brilliant, it was just a 10 minute lapse when they scored their two goals, but I think we come away with a lot to be proud of."

MORE: WATCHUNG HILLS BOYS SOCCER PUNCHES TICKET TO SCT QUARTERFINALS

With 10:18 remaining in the first half, Kevin Brito took a pass from a Steven Bednarsky free kick and ripped a shot from about 10 yards out to pull the Knights within one. Less than a minute later Anes Mrkulic scored, again on an assist from Bednarsky, to tie the game 2-2 with 9:42 left in the half.

"I thought it was a good because we came from behind, it was a very dull game on our part, we were very lethargic and we didn't come out strong, it was good to come back with two great goals," Mrkulic said. "I thought we played really well despite how we did in the beginning."

If the first half was a scoring free for all, the second half was anything but. Both sides stated that in the first half, the defense wasn't applying enough pressure, but in the second half, both teams turned up the intensity. Ludtke said that the difference between Tuesday's game and the 3-2 overtime loss was that the Mountaineers paid more attention to Gill St. Bernard's attacking players, "we didn't let them turn, I thought we definitely did a better job handling them, especially in overtime."

For Gill St. Bernard's, Tuesday's tie was a step in the right direction after a 1-0 loss to Pingry last weekend, the first loss in seven games for the Knights.

"Coming off a loss, it's tough to get back in the rhythm of winning, I think being down 2-0 and coming back to tie the game is just outstanding," Brito said. "A winning streak is much easier, but since we were out of that rhythm of winning, it's nice that we're getting back on our feet, especially with states and counties, hopefully we can this up and keep winning."

For Bernards, it was the first tie of the season and put a stop to an eight-game winning streak. For Ludtke and the Mountaineers, they just need to learn from their mistakes on Tuesday and keep moving forward.

"I think we definitely created some chances, we had a few chances to win the game there, and I think now it's just the question of finishing them," Ludtke said.

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com; on Twitter: @laurenknego