Peddie perseveres for 2OT win over Lawrenceville

HIGHTSTOWN >> Over and over again Saturday, things did not look good for the Peddie School boys soccer team.

First, the Falcons fell into a two-goal hole against Mid-Atlantic Prep League foe Lawrenceville over the first 54 minutes.

After rallying to tie the score with 12 minutes left in regulation, they fell behind again 40 seconds later.

Then, after knotting the score once more to force overtime, Peddie saw the player who had done all of its scoring in the game head to the sidelines because of an injury with six minutes left in the second OT.

And the Falcons won the game!

Yes, when freshman Riley Rosenberger sent a perfectly placed shot past L’ville freshman goalkeeper Liam Flynn off a lead from senior Ruedi Kasabach with 5:03 left, Peddie completed its incredible comeback over the Big Red with a 4-3 victory.

“We had a great mentality today,” Falcons senior midfielder Jake Salas said. “In a game like this, it can be difficult to find a rhythm. When we played Pennington the other day (a 2-0 loss Thursday), I feel like we turned things around.”

Head coach Malcolm Murphy’s club simply showed no quit.

Lawrenceville junior Mac Dilatush got the visitors on the board first by putting a pass from senior Tait Mott past Peddie senior goalkeeper Owen O’Neill in the first half. Before the teams could reach intermission, the Big Red struck again when senior Alex Shetye connected on a pass from his classmate Xavier Lacoste with 2:30 left.

That two-goal margin remained until Falcons senior Luke Marolda tapped a ball away from Flynn at the post and Salas knocked it in at the center of the goal with 25:44 left in the second half.

L’ville’s Sidharth Sharma had two near misses in the next 10 minutes, but it was Peddie which capitalized when a handball was called in the box with 12 minutes left. Salas stepped up and shot the penalty kick past Flynn to knot the game at 2.

“We weren’t disciplined enough on set pieces,” Dilatush said. “That turned the momentum of the game.”

Before the Falcons could really appreciate what they had done, the Big Red pushed forward off the ensuing kickoff and got another penalty kick called at the other end for a foul in the box. When Lacoste converted the chance, L’ville was back up, 3-2, with 11:20 to go.

No worries. Salas was not done. With 7:45 left, he took a free kick 38 yards out along the sideline and looped the ball under the bar to complete his hat trick, re-tie the game and lead to overtime.

But, after getting kneed in his quadriceps, which caused his leg to tighten, Salas asked to be removed early in the second OT. That seemed like it was going to be a problem until Kasabach led Rosenberger and his shot found the back of the net to send Peddie into a frenzy, while the Big Red walked off dejected because of a win that got away.

“I think our team really turned a corner recently and has been playing better,” Dilatush said. “This loss is tough to take because we had it.”

“We played Pennington tough (Thursday),” Salas said. “Today was an even bigger performance.”

Lawrenceville(2-8-1) 2 1 0 0 — 3

Peddie (5-4) 0 3 0 1 — 4

Goals: Dilatush, Shetye, Lacoste (L), Salas 3, Rosenberger (P); Assists: Mott, Lacoste (L), Marolda, Kasabach (P).

Shots: 12 (L), 8 (P); Saves: Flynn 3 (L), OO’Neill 5 (P).