On October 26th, 2019, Phillipsburg boy’s soccer took on Dickinson for the first round of the Section 2 Group 4 state tournament. Phillipsburg (eighth-seeded) and Dickinson (ninth-seeded) battled it out at Phillipsburg’s “PAC” field. Dreams and Nightmares by Meek Mill blared on the Liner’s speakers and they came out hungry. Both teams wanted this win bad, and it showed throughout the game with aggression and heart.
The boys went scoreless in the first half, and came out the second half with even more intensity than they did before. Coach Weller for the Stateliners, who are now 8-11-2 switched the fielding around, but that did not stop Dickinson who are now 10-8-2 from scoring first. Mohamed Ali from Dickinson rifled one past Phillipsburg’s keeper Anthony Belske, who finished the game with seven saves.
Dickinson wanted this game bad. You could tell by the way there were not letting up. They held the Liners to no goals until the last 30 seconds of the game. Dickinson thought they had this state game in the bag, but Phillipsburg senior Omar Hossein thought differently. With seconds left on the clock, Liner sophomore Aiden Harkin had the ball. Hossein ran to the goal to score Harkin’s ball with seconds left. Harkin and Hossein did whatever it took and got the Liner’s another chance in PKs.
Seniors Anthony Fontana, David Chemidlin, Yanni Moreira, and Will Capron lined up for penalty kicks with Anthony Belske in goal. Phillipsburg missed their first shot, Dickinson’s first shot was saved. Both teams sunk the next shot making PKs 1-1. Then Moreira and Corte made theirs. Belske made another save, and the last shot went over the crossbar, making the final score of PKs 3-1 in favor of the Liners for the comeback.
The Phillipsburg Stateliners will travel to Elizabeth High School on November 1st for the second round of states.
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