South Plainfield boys soccer advances to GMCT semifinals

SOUTH PLAINFIELD - The South Plainfield High School boys soccer team is now just one step away from returning to the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final.

The third-seeded Tigers (14-5) defeated No. 6 East Brunswick 3-0 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday to earn a berth in the semifinals. South Plainfield, which is the lowest seed left in the tournament, will face No. 10 North Brunswick on Thursday at South Brunswick. Ninth-seeded St. Joseph will play No. 5 South Brunswick in the other semifinal.

MORE: CN/GMC WEEK 8 BOYS SOCCER SCHEDULES

"We knew it was going to be a tough game, we've been practicing hard," South Plainfield's Jacob Villacres said. "Our coach always said don't take them lightly, they're a Red Division team, they're going to be good, and he told us he's never beaten East Brunswick so that gave us motivation for him."

South Plainfield is gunning to get back to the final after the Tigers finished as co-champions with South Brunswick last year after a 1-1 tie.

"It feels pretty good honestly," Villacres said of advancing to the semifinals. "Last year we were able to be GMC co-champions and we'd like to repeat."

On Tuesday, both teams came out firing, but it was the Tigers that struck first when Isaiah Storah slammed home a rebound off a shot off the post for a 1-0 lead.

RELATED: BOYS SOCCER ROUNDUP FOR TUESDAY, OCT. 25

Towards the end of the first half, Villacres took advantage of a mistake by East Brunswick goalie Lucas Espada. The Bears (8-9-1) took a goal kick that ended up at Villacres's feet at midfield. Espada was out of the net, and Villacres sezied the opportunity, sending a shot back up field and into the goal for a 2-0 lead at halftime.

Storah scored the third and final goal towards the end of the game on an assist from John Boyce as South Plainfield posted its second-straight shutout and second of the tournament.

East Brunswick outshot the Tigers 4-3 in the first half, and again 5-2 in the second, but South Plainfield goalie Nick Plate came up with some huge saves to keep the Bears off the board. Plate finished with eight saves. Espada made two for East Brunswick.

"I think my defense played phenomenal, we had no stupid mistakes, every chance they got they would clear the ball, they really stopped the attack today," Plate said. "I think I played good but I think the defense is a big part of that, East Brunswick had some really nice shots on goal that we had to save or kick away."

The Tigers have already faced North Brunswick twice this season, falling to the Raiders 2-0 on Sept. 13, then holding on for a 1-0 victory on Sept. 29. South Plainfield has gone 3-3 in its last six games, having faced some of the top teams in the state with losses against Scotch Plains-Fanwood and Westfield. That experience can only help as the competition will get tougher the farther the Tigers advance.

"We've been having our ups and downs but when we play to our capability we're phenomenal, and I think we can hang with anyone in the state," Plate said. "I don't really feel pressure (to repeat), but we all know we want to get back there and we want to be champs this year. If our defense can play like this every game we'll be fine, and our offense, we have to finish our chances, we had some nice play making, if we can finish we'll be fine."

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