Despite a strong offensive game, Glen Rock boy’s soccer fell 1-0 to Pequannock in the second round of the NJSIAA Tournament on Friday afternoon.

Eighth-seeded Pequannock won the game against top-seeded Glen Rock with only one goal.

Goalie Zack Fazal bobbled the ball forcing him out of the goal and allowed Pequannock’s Jason Reardon to capitalize in the first half. Devin Lacorte assisted on Reardon’s goal.

Fazal still played a great game with a total of 10 saves, while Pequannock’s Alec Van Etten and Alan Margreither combined for 12 saves. Fazal had amazing saves on two breakaways in the first half as well.

Justin Kochman and Nick Rogers also played well with a few goal attempts.

In addition to his goal attempts, Kochman had two breakaways but was stopped by the Pequannock players. During his second breakaway, Kochman was fouled by Pequannock player Bresden Van Etten, which allowed Mark Buckel to have a free kick. When a foul was called, Kochman tried to persuade the referee in favor of Glen Rock.

Rogers took possession of the ball once it was stopped by a Pequannock player during Kochman’s first breakaway. The two worked together on multiple free kicks but were unable to score. Rogers had 6 corner kicks, 2 of which assisted Kochman and Ben Zakowski in goal attempts.

After Xavier Ramirez fouled Rogers, Rogers and Kochman were able to deliver another free kick. Rogers lightly kicked the ball in an attempt to throw Pequannock off balance. Pequannock almost lets up a goal but it was stopped by goalie Alec Van Etten.   

Pequannock lost to fifth-seeded Mahwah 2-0 on Tuesday in the semifinal round.

Pequannock had a surprisingly large student section for the first half of the game. However, once school was let out, Glen Rock’s student sections grew considerably. With tension growing in the game, both sides exchanged chants and a few aggressive comments.

The dynamic of the game also changed at the start of the second half, once the Glen Rock fan section arrived. The Glen Rock boys played a more offensive and aggressive game, trying to tie it up with five goal attempts.

Ben Packer, a boys soccer superfan, said, “The student section makes the players more motivated to do better things, getting them more hyped and giving them the adrenaline to play better.”

In the last four minutes of the game, the Panther fan section arose and lined the fence surrounding the field, hopeful for a goal.

Despite this loss, Glen Rock had one of its best seasons in recent times.

Fazal said, “Our proudest achievement was probably getting to the semifinals in counties. I’m pretty sure Glen Rock hasn’t done that in like thirty years”