Barker completes Trenton’s comeback win against Steinert
TRENTON >> If the Trenton High boys soccer team keeps this up, it could very well go from being a giant killer to being one of the giants.
For the second time in seven days, the Tornadoes stunned one of the Colonial Valley Conference’s premiere teams by scoring three unanswered secondhalf goals for a 3-2 victory over Steinert.
Six days earlier, TCHS scored twice in the final four minutes to shock Princeton.
The game-winner came with 7:44 remaining, when Antoneil Barker took a through ball from Yobi Mateo, slipped inside his defender and launched one from 15 yards out into the back of the net.
“It was one-v-one with the keeper, I saw him leaning and I just went to the far post,” Barker said. “It was very exciting because it helped us win.”
Midway through the game, former Lawrence great and Mercer Hall of Famer Tim Murphy noted, “That number nine (Barker) has a goal in him. He’s gonna get one.”
He got it at the right time – a big-time goal by a bigtime performer.
“He’s a special player,” coach Joe Fink said. “He’s very good one-v-one player. Very special. We’re fortunate to have him.”
Steinert came back with two near misses in the final minutes but goalie Herb Carr saved one and a header went just over the goal as the Tornadoes won their third straight.
“We’re playing with a million confidence,” said Barker, a Jamaican product who may just have coined a cool new phrase. “We’re three-for-three, now we want four-for-four.”
For one half, Trenton (4-3) appeared to have no shot. Steinert (5-3) moved the ball well, had numerous opportunities and got goals from Dylan Kotch and Justin Brunow for a 2-0 lead. TCHS did not have a shot on goal in the first 40 minutes.
But as Fink said in his best cliché voice, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”
Trenton finished by going from a 4-4-2 to a 3-4-3 and putting an extra attacker up top.
“We rolled the dice,” Fink said.
Adrian Matamoros started the comeback early in the second half when he headed in a pass from Hari Samayoa. From that point, Trenton began to dominate the possession and kept the play in Steinert’s end.
The Tornadoes got a break with under 12 minutes left when Steinert goalie Trevor Giordano was called for a handball out of the box, which resulted in a yellow card that forced him to the sidelines for the restart. Position player Liam MacDonald was pressed into playing keeper and was aggressive on Samayoa’s direct kick from the wing. MacDonald came out to punch it away, but it dropped into a maze of feet and Steve Cardona converted to tie it.
Trenton continued to pressure and finally got the game-winner.
“They’re resilient,” Fink said. “They don’t give up. They just keep playing. We had a rough first half, Steinert took it to us and we just didn’t give up. We just kept playing, just like we did against Princeton.”
Barker had an interesting take on the comeback.
“At first we didn’t have the energy,” he said. “The sun was too hot and our passes weren’t working. So when the sun started going down, we started to do it.”
Whatever it was, there is suddenly a new attitude on Greenwood Avenue.
“It’s new since last Wednesday,” Fink said. “We were struggling a little bit, beating Princeton gave us a lot of belief. Princeton’s a great team. And Steinert’s a very good team, they’re well coached and do a good job. Steinert and Princeton are no joke. They’re two of the best teams in the CVC.”
It may soon be time to start saying the same thing about Trenton.
Follow Rich Fisher on twitter @fish4scores Steinert (4-3) 2 0 – 2
Trenton (5-3) 0 3- 3
G: S-Brunow, Kotch. T-Matamoros, Cardona, Barker. A: S-Azer. T-Samayoa 2, Mateo. Shots: S-11, T-11. Saves: SGiordano 3. T-Carr 6.