Spartans score four, down Irish

LAWRENCE >> The Steinert and Notre Dame High boys soccer teams have been playing such difficult schedules in the preseason and early this season that a matchup between the two in Game No. 3 figured to be a little anticlimactic. For now at least.

If the Spartans can continue to play as well as they did Tuesday when they visited Msgr. Walter E. Nolan Field, they will be a squad with which to be reckoned come the Mercer County Tournament.

Steinert’s 4-0 victory over the Irish was impressive, and the outcome for both teams probably goes back to their last game.

Head coach Anthony Tessein’s squad held a two-goal lead on Scotch PlainsFanwood on the road Saturday, only to see the Raiders rally for the win.

Head coach Dan Donigan’s club scored nine goals while defeating Voorhees on the road Saturday. ND’s defense had allowed only one goal heading into yesterday’s contest.

Then the Spartans’ new-look attacking line showed up. No longer does Steinert come at teams with one dangerous scoring threat up top. Now senior scorer Justin Brunow is joined by junior Dylan Kotch and a vast cast of runners who have a knack for putting the ball on goal.

With Kotch moving forward, junior Romario Azer has stepped in to very deftly control the midfield for Tessein and set up his teammates.

Fueled by losing a game they believed they should have won Saturday, the Spartans kept that chip on their shoulders even after Kotch got the visitors on the board early by connecting on a feed from Azer.

Steinert kept charging and saw Brunow miss wide on a crossing chance with 14 minutes left in the half, but before Notre Dame could regroup, Azer led Brunow a minute later for a second goal which gave the Spartans a 2-0 halftime edge.

“When Justin and I are up top, there’s a lot of speed up there,” Kotch said. “People are starting to pick up on what we’re doing. I’m used to being in the midfield, but I’ve adjusted to being up top.”

Kotch showed his new comfort zone seven minutes into the second half when he took a through ball from sophomore Liam MacDonald and beat hardworking Irish senior goalkeeper Nick Wilke with a 18-yard crossing shot for a 3-0 advantage.

“We never feel comfortable. We learned our lesson Saturday,” Kotch said after raising his season goal total to four. “We knew we had to keep pushing and play a full 80 minutes.”

The Irish tried to join the scoring, yet the closest they came was when Chris O’Neill hit a shot off the post with just under 18 minutes to play. That turned out to be bad news when Steinert got out on the counterattack and cashed in as Brunow made a run before crossing to the far post, where junior Dario Marsolone knocked in the fourth goal with 17:24 left.

“I know how good they are, so I knew they were going to be tough,” Donigan said of the Spartans. “We’re still a growing team. As good as they were, this is a little bit on us.”

Both teams will keep getting better over the next month and a half in hopes that they will meet again in the MCT Oct. 17-24.

Steinert (2-1) 2 2 — 4 NotreDame(2-1) 0 0 — 0

Goals: Kotch 2, Brunow, Marsolone (S); Assists: Azer 2, MacDonald, Brunow (S).

Shots: 10 (S), 7 (ND); Saves: Giordano 6 (S), Wilke 6 (ND).