Oct. 27, 2014 MCT Boys Soccer Steinert uses a dominating first half to take quarterfinal victory over PDS By Rich Fisher Fish4scores.com Oct. 27: It was an effort that conjured up images of yesteryear, when powerful state champion Steinert soccer teams completely destroyed their opponents with outstanding, attractive play that was a joy to watch. The 3rd-seeded Spartans passed, dribbled, defended, shot and did everything else you’re supposed to do on the pitch in the first 40 minutes today in storming to a 5-0 victory over 6thseeded Princeton Day School in a Mercer County Tournament quarterfinal game. After stealing a pass, Joe Helmlinger (above, 4) gets ready to fire the Steinert (12-3-2) scored all five goals fourth goal past PDS goalie Adam Maximilian; while below, Justin during a dominating first half, in which it game's Barbuto connects on a left-footed shot that would produce the final score outshot the Panthers 12-1. The win sets of an uber-productive first half for the Spartans (Photos by Nancy Eggert). up a semifinal at Ewing High Wednesday evening, when Steinert takes on 2ndseeded Princeton. The Little Tigers advanced with a 2-0 win over West Windsor-Plainsboro North. And while Princeton is a regular visitor to the MCT semis, Steinert has not been there in a long time. The Spartans won the title in 2006 and Jacobs thinks they may have reached the semis one other time since then. Going by Fish4scores records, which date back to 2009, it would have had to be 2007 or 2008, as Steinert hasn’t been there at least in the last five years. In 2010 the Spartans were upset by 13th seeded West Windsor, 2-1, in the quarterfinals. “These guys deserve it,” Jacobs said. “They’ve worked hard going back from day one. They should enjoy it and realize what they accomplished so far. Knowing them I’m sure they’re not satisfied with where they’re at but they deserve a lot of credit for getting us to this point. “It’s been a while since Steinert has played in the spotlight of this tournament. They earned it and they deserved it so we’ll see how they respond to being in the spotlight.” Justin Barbuto and Anthony Remboski, two of five players to score in the game, both feel Steinert is peaking at the right time. “We have momentum,” Remboski said. “I think we’re making a great run, I think we’re gonna finish strong and win it all. I think we’ll play really good in the semifinals.” “We’re doing a lot better, I love the way we’re playing now,” added Barbuto. “We’re just trying to keep it up. We know how Princeton plays and we’ll try our best.” They were at their very best in the first 40 minutes today, starting with Adrian Strama’s team-leading sixth goal of the year off a restart (as usual). In the 15th minute, Rich Kozlowski lofted in a long shot that was saved by Hamilton native Ryan Sparks, but the goalie couldn’t hold on. He saved a rebound shot by Remboski, but Dean Klemmer got that rebound and slid a pass to Brandon Rivera, who put it home. Sparks was taken out after that due to a swollen ankle that he hurt in a first-round win over Trenton, but it’s doubtful even he would have made a difference on the remaining goals as the Spartans were getting unstoppable shots. Adrian Strama (center) is congratulated by Ryan DiChiara (left) and Chance Eggert after getting Steinert on the board with a free kick goal in the game's 11th minute today (Photo by Nancy Eggert). PDS got a break when Strama missed a penalty kick that was set up by a good hustle play by Joe Helmlinger, who got taken down in the box. “It’s 2-0 and you have a penalty kick to really get that all important third goal and he mis-kicked it, and look how we responded there,” Jacobs said. “With many teams their head goes down. These guys didn’t let it affect them and they came back and got that third goal. That was huge.” Actually they got the third and fourth in rapid-fire succession. The knockout punch came with 10:40 and 10:06 left. Remboski made it 3-0 when he stole the ball and glided in to score on a breakaway. “I saw them pass it back to the defender, and I saw that he thought there was another defender behind him and I hit it through his legs,” Remboski said. “I saw the goalie was on the left post so I hit it to the right side.” Just 34 seconds later, Helmlinger stole a pass and put it in from short range. “That got us really amped,” Barbuto said. “We basically knew we had it in the bag. We just wanted to keep it going and get more goals.” The junior forward did just with 1:45 left. A right-footer, Barbuto ripped a left-foot shot into the lower right corner of the goal. “I got a loose ball and took a touch to my left foot,” he said. “It was crowded on my right foot, so I had space on my left and just shot it. I kind of hurt my groin and I was using my left foot instead of my right and got a little bit better at it.” The score concluded a first half that Jacobs said was one of the most dominating he had ever seen Steinert play in his 12 years as head coach, and it would be hard for anyone to argue. “I think it was great,” Remboski said. “We played fast and they couldn’t touch the ball the whole half.” “We actually worked the ball around a lot better,” Barbuto said. “We had possession most of the time and just took it to them.” Jacobs found that his team played so well, he couldn’t Ryan DiChiara controls the ball against PDS' CJ Uche during today's match (Photo by find anything to yell about. Nancy Eggert). “It’s always good when I can still talk a little after the game,” the coach said with a laugh. In the second half numerous subs got to play, and throughout the game the Spartans held down Marco Pinheiro, who leads PDS with 11 goals and nine assists. “Any time he got the ball we were on him,” Remboski said. Jacobs credited midfielder Kozlowski, who he feels has been underrated this season. “We took (Pinheiro) right out of the game,” Jacobs said. “That was my first comment when we gathered for a little bit yesterday. I told Kozlowski and I told the guys, and I told Kozlowski today and I told the guys to relay the message that Kozlowski’s going to have to have a huge game, and he did. Kozlowski was the factor, not number seven (Pinheiro).” The entire starting 11 was a factor as PDS could never get into a rhythm after putting forth a dominating effort against Trenton on Saturday. The Panthers were hot, having won four straight and going 6-1-1 in their last eight, but Steinert seemed to be everywhere. “Everything clicked today in the 40 minutes,” Jacobs said. “Our forwards were mixing it up, getting loose and, finally, they remained compose. They needed to be quick but kept their composure and tucked some balls in the back of the net. “Everybody got in the mix today, it was a total team effort. I couldn’t be happier for these guys Coach (Aaron) Stanley experienced being in the semis and the finals with us in 2006, there’s nothing like that. They’ll get to experience it Wednesday and coach Stanley has relayed the message to them what it feels like.” One thing Steinert needs to be concerned with is the game is on Ewing’s artificial turf. Princeton plays on that type of surface all the time while Steinert plays over half its games on grass. “On turf the ball rolls a lot faster when you kick it,” Barbuto said. “There’s a bunch of different things you need to keep under consideration when you pass. When we do our pre-game practice we try to figure it out. Toward the end of the game we know what we’re doing, it just takes a little to get used to it.” Steinert adjusted well enough on Oct. 2 to take a 1-0 win at Princeton, which will carry a 13-2 record into Wednesday’s game. “When we beat Princeton it was your typical battle, and we beat them for the first time in a long time,” Jacobs said. “When you get to this point in the tournament anything can happen. That’s the way the county is with all the teams. It’s a battle and these guys have to come mentally and physically prepared for it to be a battle for 80 minutes.” If they play 80 minutes Wednesday like they played the first 40 today, don’t make plans for Saturday night if you’re a Steinert soccer fan. Follow Rich Fisher on twitter @fish4scores