Boys SCT Soccer – Dell Heads Rumson Into Championship

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NEPTUNE - Rumson-Fair Haven senior defensive midfielder Matt Dell had been a defender for the early part of his high school career, so when Bulldogs head coach Will Gould encourages him to push forward, there is still a part of Dell that is programmed to think about defense first.

Matt Dell celebrates his game-winning goal in the 77th minute. (Photo by Cliff Lavelle)

When he does push forward, though, good things tend to happen, just as they did Thursday in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinal against No. 2 seed Holmdel at Memorial Field in Neptune.

Dell elevated over a crowd in front of the goal for a corner kick by Harry Gassert in the 77th minute and headed it into net for the winning score in the No. 3 Bulldogs’ 1-0 win over Holmdel. The win propels Rumson into their first ever SCT final, which it will play Saturday against top-seeded Manalapan at Memorial Field.

[onescreen item="5157304"]“All game long, coach was telling us, ‘Push, push, push,’ and we just tried to keep throw numbers up, especially when we get set pieces,” said Dell, who stands 6-foot-3. “I know with me, I’m one of the tallest guys out there, so coach is always trying to get me to push forward when we have a chance to score.”

Dell now has seven goals and four assists out of his defensive center midfield spot, including an assist in Tuesday’s win over Wall to go with his goal on Thursday night. Dell also scored on a header in the first of two regular season meetings between the two teams, which Rumson won, 3-2.

“For his first few years playing varsity, Matt Dell has played on the back line and I really wanted to move him to the midfield in a holding role just because he’s so strong out of the air,” Gould said. “He wins every fifty-fifty ball out of the air and that’s why Holmdel played every single ball short because they know if they come into the middle, they run into Matt Dell.

“We try to push him up because every time on set pieces, through-balls, corners, he’s going to be one of those big targets we can find.”

Rumson had five other corner kicks prior to the winner, most of which Gassert handled. The senior forward’s final service from the corner had more hang time than any prior kick, and Dell rose up over Holmdel sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Marchiano near the far left post and headed the ball past the keeper.

“I just tried to get the ball to the back post and give our guys a chance,” Gassert said. “We have a lot of guys who are great in the air and none better than Dell.”

“Coach (Gould) keeps telling us that we’re getting all of these shots on goal and we’re not capitalizing enough on our opportunities,” Dell said. “If we’re going to keep winning, we have to start finishing our chances and it didn’t come easy today, but we kept working until we got it.”

Leading up to the goal, Rumson tested Marchiano through the match and the sophomore past each test. The Bulldogs had a chance to take a 1-0 lead 2:23 into the game on a penalty kick, but Marchiano made a kick save on Pete Martin’s attempt as he dove to his right.

[onescreen item="5157301"]The Bulldogs had several first-half chances, including one in which Gassert beat Marchiano to a ball near the edge of the box and tapped it toward the open net. Hornets defender Brian Healy, however, covered Marchiano and cleared the ball off the goal line before it crossed.

[onescreen item="5157303"]Marchiano also stopped two shots by Bulldogs leading scorer Mike Slutz, the first of which was a diving save in the first half.

In all, Marchiano saved eight shots to help Holmdel momentarily survive a 16-7 shot advantage for Rumson.

[onescreen item="5157300"]Holmdel’s best chances came off the foot of senior Jack Flanagan, who had two dangerous strikes defensed by Rumson. The first came in the 19th minute when Flanagan took a shot with Rumson goalkeeper Chris Tierney down and it hit a Bulldogs defender and rolled away from the goal. The second was a run up the left side of the field in the 51st minute in which Flanager ripped a shot from a difficult angle that Tierney left his feet to save.

The shutout was the third straight for Rumson since the beginning of the tournament, which matches its total for the entire regular season.

The Hornets again played without one of their top offensive weapons in Gino D’Agostino, who has missed the entire tournament with a foot injury. Holmdel also lost senior forward Jason Kyriacou – a third team All Shore selection last year – to a pulled hamstring, according to coach John Nacarlo. He sustained the injury midway through the first half and did not return.

The Bulldogs will now try to further make school history against Manalapan on Saturday by capturing the school’s first ever boys soccer SCT crown one year after finishing 8-7-1 and losing to Holmdel in the round of 16 last season as a No. 20 seed. Since 2010, Holmdel is 7-3 against Rumson-Fair Haven, and two of those wins have come this season. The two rivals are also the top two seeds in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II bracket.

“It’s been a long four years playing against Holmdel,” Gassert said. “They’ve had some crazy players and some great teams. It feels great to finally beat them in a game like this and hopefully it’s not the last time.”

Box Score

Rumson-Fair Haven 1, Holmdel 0