POINT PLEASANT BORO – The Point Pleasant Boro boys soccer players take pride in the fact that a number of them have played the role of hero during a seven-game winning streak that they took into a pivotal Shore Conference Class B South game Monday against Central Regional.

They may not have known who the hero would be on Monday, but all were in agreement that goalkeeper Gabe Pesante would not play the role of goat.

Point Boro goalkeeper Gabe Pasante jumps on the back of teammate Steve Corso (10) as the Panthers celebrate their overtime win over Central on Monday (Photo by Matt Manley)
Point Boro goalkeeper Gabe Pasante jumps on the back of teammate Steve Corso (10) as the Panthers celebrate their overtime win over Central on Monday (Photo by Matt Manley)
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After a game-tying goal slipped through Pesante’s grasp to pull Central even with 2:30 left, Ryan Remondelli picked his goalkeeper up by heading in the golden goal midway through the first overtime to give the Panthers a thrilling 3-2 win over the Golden Eagles for their eighth straight win.

“Gabe picked us up all game long, and he needed us to pick him up,” Remondelli said. “He was huge for us all game long, and we didn’t want it to come down to one mistake.”

Point Boro now owns a full two-game lead over four teams tied for second place – Central, Donovan Catholic, Jackson Liberty and Pinelands.

Remondelli headed in a cross from his younger brother Mason, who took the ball to the end-line and chipped a short cross to the near post. Ryan – a senior – headed his sophomore brother’s pass into the goal, the first connection between the two brothers in a varsity game, according to coach Pete Casalino.

“I saw my brother get to the touch line and I figured he was going to cross the ball so I made the run to the near post,” Ryan Remondelli said. “When you’re in overtime, you’re just trying to find any opportunity you can to work for a shot.”

The goal helped bail out Pesante, who otherwise bailed out his team throughout the match by denying Central leading scorer Blake Czajkowski four times with lunging saves on shots to the lower part of the net. Czajkowski did score to cut Point Boro’s first-half lead to 2-1 by halftime, but that shot was an uncontested strike from 12 yards out on a breakaway set up by a long pass by sophomore Nate Wiley.

The Panthers appeared poised to escape behind Pasante and the defense until Central junior Shane Cranstoun finally broke the wall. The junior hit a right-footed shot that Pesante tried to catch while falling to his right, but it slipped through and into the goal.

“I tried to catch (the ball) and I probably shouldn’t have,” Pesante said of the Cranstoun goal. “I was disappointed to give up that goal, but I knew the game was far from over and our guys were going to do everything in their power to pick me up. I just wanted to make sure I stayed in the game in case I needed to make another save.”

Point Boro nearly took a two-goal lead in the 63rd minute when Sam Monaco headed in a corner kick by Nick DeCurtis. The goal, however, was disallowed because the official ruled that Jake Woodring fouled Jones when he challenged the ball in the air, allowing Monaco a clean shot with his head.

Although Woodring might have taken a goal off the board with his foul, he also put one on the board with a perfectly-struck shot from 25 yards out that put Point Boro ahead, 2-0, in the 30th minute. Woodring gathered himself several steps outside the top of the 18-yard box and rifled a shot to the far upper-left corner of the netting. Woodring missed Point Boro’s first nine games with a hamstring injury and his goal Monday was his first of the season.

“I’m starting to feel close to full strength,” Woodring said. “I’ve been playing with these guys since we were young kids, so it was easy to jump back on the field and fit it. I’m just trying to play my game and give the team another scoring option.”

Point Boro senior Jake Woodring (5) settles the ball for his first-half strike, one that would give Point Boro a 2-0 lead in the 30th minute. (Photo by Matt Manley)
Point Boro senior Jake Woodring (5) settles the ball for his first-half strike, one that would give Point Boro a 2-0 lead in the 30th minute. (Photo by Matt Manley)
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Point Boro scored the first goal of the game in the 11th minute when senior Kenny Fellows launched a long throw-in that carried Jones over the end-line as he caught it.

The Panthers’ last loss came against Central on Sept. 16 in Bayville. The Panthers still have a game each against Donovan Catholic, Pinelands and Jackson Liberty remaining, but with a two-game lead on the field, the Panthers will have to lose more than two games to squander a share of the division title.

“This is a huge win,” Pesante said. “It’s a redemption game and it’s a game that keeps us in first place in the division, which is our main goal right now. We beat a tough team today and now we’re going to try to keep it going.”

 

Box Score

Point Boro 3, Central 2 (OT)

1

2

OT

F

Central (8-3, 6-3)

1

1

0

2

Point Boro (9-2, 8-1)

2

0

1

3

Goals (Assists): (C) Czajkowski (Wiley) 33’, Cranstoun 78’; (PB) Fellows 11’, Woodring (Hornish) 30’, R. Remondelli (M. Remondelli) 85’
Saves: (C) Jones 6; (PB) Pesante 5
Shots: Point Boro, 15-12

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