ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School boys soccer team was stopped by Pascack Valley, 3-0, in a first-round North 1, Group 3 state sectional game played at Pascack Valley on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
    Morris Hills, the 16th-seeded team in the section, is now 2-14-1 on the season while top-seed Pascack Valley, which scored all three of its goals in the first half, improved to 14-3.

Gallego's goal beast Vernon as Knights halt losing streak

   ROCKAWAY - Cesar Gallego scored the only goal of the game as Morris Hills beat Vernon, 1-0, in a high school boys soccer game at Vernon on Monday, Nov. 2.
    The victory was the second of the season for the Knights (2-12), who snapped an seven-game losing streak.

Knights lose 7th in a row

    ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School boys soccer team put eight shots on Jackson goalie Mike Folk, but none of them got through as the Knights lost their seventh straight game, a 1-0 decision to Jackson at Jackson on Friday, Oct. 23.

    Jackson (10-10-1) got the game's only goal late in the game as Joey Ogren converted a pass from Ryan Totin.

    Morris Hills fell to 1-12 with the loss.

Knights bow to Mendham, 3-1

    ROCKAWAY - Connor Schrack scored for Morris Hills in a 3-1 loss to Mendham in a high school boys soccer game at Mendham on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

    Morris Hills is 1-11 and has lost six straight; the win boosted Mendham's record to 7-6-1.

Delbarton blanks Hills, 3-0

     ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School boys soccer team fell behind early to Delbarton and dropped a 3-0 decision in a game played at Delbarton School on Thursday, Oct. 15.
    The Green Wave (9-2-1) scored all of its goals in the first half and finished with 12 shots on goal as compared to the Knights two. Morris Hills is 1-10 and has lost five straight games.

Morris Hills falls to Morris Knolls, 3-0

    ROCKAWAY - Morris Hills couldn't solve the combined efforts of goaltenders Eric Schmitt and Ryan Graf as the Knights lost a 3-0 decision to sister-school Morris Knolls in a high school boys soccer game played at Knolls on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
    Mike Reynolds made 12 saves for Morris Hills, which lost its fourth straight game as its record slipped to 1-9 for the season.
    Alex Montoy and Peter Luce scored first-half goals for Knolls (9-1-1) and Marc Defeo scored on a penalty kick in the second half.

     "You have to give Knolls credit for this one," said Morris Hills coach Kevin Rosenberg after the game. "They simply outplayed us.

     "Losing is not fun and I feel bad for our seniors ... we'll continue to work and do our best to get them some wins before our season and their careers end."

MH loses third in a row by one goal

   ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School boys soccer team had all seven of its shots turned aside as the Knights lost their third straight one-goal game, this on 1-0 squeaker to Mount Olive in a game played at Morris Hills on Wednesday, Oct. 7.
    Mount Olive (3-4-3) got the only goal it would need when Andrew Cerda scored off a pass from Colin Doyle late in the first half.
    Morris Hills keeper Mike Reynolds finished the game with five saves as the Knights slipped to 1-8 on the season.

Knights stopped by Par Hills, 1-0
    ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School boys soccer team managed but six shots on goal in a 1-0 loss to Parsippany Hills at Parsippany on Monday, Oct. 5.
    Parsippany forward Gaby Guindo?s second-half goal was the only goal of the game as Parsippany improved to 6-4-1 and Morris Hills fell to 1-7 on the season.

Knights fall to WM, 3-2, in double-OT
      ROCKAWAY - Kevin Rosenberg was hoping his Morris Hills boys soccer team had been given a jolt of confidence after the Knights had won their first game of the season on Saturday, Sept. 26, a 3-2 double-OT win over High Point.  
     It was the first win after opening the season with four losses and Rosenberg felt it was just the kick-start his inexperienced team need.
      Only trouble was, a strong West Morris team was next on the schedule, a team that had won five of its first seven games.
      Morris Hills battled West Morris on even terms on the scoreboard for the first 21 minutes of play Wednesday, Sept. 30, before the Knights' David Salinas scored on a rebound off a free kick taken by Roque Valderamma.
     The stunned West Morris team tied the score eight minutes later, however, and than scored the only two goals of the second half for a 3-1 victory in a game played at Morris Hills. The loss put Morris Hills at 1-5; West Morris improved to 6-2.
     Morris Hills had two good scoring chances early in the second half, according to Rosenberg. 
     "Connor Schrack got into a shot from about 20 yards out on which the West Morris goalie made a nice save," Rosenberg said after the game. "And Cesar Bautista had a free kick that sailed just wide."
     With West Morris up 2-1 and time running out, Morris Hill pushed forward in an attempt to notch the tying goal only to have West Morris turn it around and score its insurance goal with about five minutes left in the game.
     "West Morris is a real good team that capitalized well on the chances it had ... they were better in the key moments of the game," Rosenberg said. "Still, I thought we played as well as we have all season at times during the game.
     "?We just need the confidence to go forward in attack ... it seems as if our guys don?t have enough faith in themselves yet ... this group has to believe it is good before it can actually be good."
     After the game, in the Morris County Boy Soccer Tournament seeding meeting, West Morris was named the No. 7 seed while Morris Hills was seeded No. 20.
 (For the full seeding list of the tourney, please visit the "MCT Seeds, Skeds" page on this web site.) 

Knights first win takes two OTs
    ROCKAWAY - It took longer than expected - four games and two overtime periods added to the fifth game, to be exact - but now that it's here, Kevin Rosenberg expects more will come soon.
     The "it" is the Morris Hills High School boys soccer team's first victory of the season, a 3-2 decision over High Point that it took two overtime sessions to decide in a game at High Point on Saturday, Sept. 26.
     Joe Paolino scored the game winner, connecting on a free kick from about 40 yards out with less than a minute left to play in the second overtime.
    "The goalie caught it ... but his momentum carried him into the goal and that was the game," Rosenberg said after the game. "It?s not a normal way to end a game, but we?ll take it."
     The victory was the first for the Knights after opening the season with four losses.
     David Salinas' unassisted goal 14:22 into the game gave Morris Hills a 1-0 lead but High Point came back with two second-half goals to take a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes to play.
      Morris Hills got the tying goal and sent the game into overtime with 50 seconds left in regulation when Cesar Galleg knocked in a rebound off a shot on goal by Augustin Alzate.
     The goals were the first varsity goals for both Salinas and Galleg, who are juniors.
     Justin Taylor was in goal for the Knights and he finished with four saves and got a solid game from the defenders in front of him, according to Rosenberg.
    "Our back four of Gene Listwan, Joe Paolino, Nick Polega and Oscar Hernandez played very well today ... especially in the overtimes," Rosenberg said. "I thought we deserved the win because we completely dominated both overtime periods."
     Rosenberg was especially pleased how the team reacted to High Point going ahead in the final 10 minutes of play.
    "The way we're going this year, it would have been easy for these kids to hang their heads," Rosenberg explains. "But they fought back and tied it up ... that's a good sign.
     "I'm looking to build upon this victory ... confidence is very important and I think we got some of that and we grew up a bit today."

Unbeaten Montville stop Knights, 5-1
     ROCKAWAY - Brian Vega unassisted goal in the second half was the only score of the game for Morris Hills as the Knights lost to unbeaten Montville, 5-1, in a high school boys soccer game at Morris Hills on Thursday, Sept. 24.
     Morris Hills is now 0-4; Montville improved to 4-0.

Knights blanked by Sparta, 5-0
     ROCKAWAY - Sparta held the Morris Hills High School boys soccer team to five shots on goal in handing the winless Knights their third loss of the season at Sparta on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
      Hills keeper Justin Taylor finished with 10 saves while Sparta goalie Alex Altieri was called upon to make only five saves as the Spartans evened their record at 1-1.

Knights bow to Roxbury in OT, 3-2
      ROCKAWAY - Kevin Rosenberg is waiting patiently for his Morris Hills High School boys soccer team's confidence level to increase.
      The Knights lost their second one-goal game in two 2009 outings, falling to Roxbury, 3-2, in overtime when Roxbury scored off a rebound at the 8:45 mark of the first extra period.
       "Our inexperience has cost us in our first two games," Rosenberg says. "But we're getting better and better and as soon as the kids gain some confidence, we'll start winning some games."
       Morris Hills got an unassisted goal from Connor Schrack at 18:22 and Luis Colon scored on an assist from Cesar Bautista at the 62-minute mark to give the Knights a 2-1 lead.
       Roxbury scored its first goal in the first 10 minutes of play and didn?t score again until there was 4:20 left in regulation, a goal that forced the overtime period.
      "We should be able to kill of a game with a goal lead in the final five minutes," Rosenberg says. "But we didn't ... we made a mental mistake and they capitalized on it.
      "We had a similar chance to score with less than three minutes to play when Colon had a shot kicked aside but we had nobody in position to handle the rebound. 
      "It came down to Roxbury finishing its chances while we did not ... we have to learn to take advantage of those situations ... and that's where the experience and confidence comes in to play."
      The Knights used two goalies with Mike Reynolds stopping two shots and Justin Taylor three. Roxbury keeper Stephen Graziani made seven saves and, according to Rosenberg, was a huge factor in the victory.
      "Their goalkeeper was fantastic," Rosenberg says. "He made two saves that were worthy of any highlight reel to keep his team in the game and give them their chance to win."