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North 2, Group 2 men’s football final preview: Hackettstown at Harrison

Harry November 15, 2024

North 2, Group 2 | BRACKET

Friday, November 15, 19:00

8-Hackettstown (20-5) and 3-Harrison (17-5-2)

HOW DID THEY COME HERE

hackettstown

The Tigers are in the final for the third time in the last 10 years and the second time since 2021. Their 20 wins are the most in a season since they won Group 2 in 2014 and have been tested to this point. In their first round match against ninth-seeded Caldwell, Hackettstown won 3-2 in overtime, and after winning the shootout 5-3 in the quarterfinals, they needed a shootout to beat top-seeded Rutherford 3-2. Ironically, the semifinal against fifth-seeded Voorhees proved to be Hackettstown’s easiest win; They went away and defeated the Vikings 4-0.

harrison

The Blue Tide reached the finals for the second time in three seasons after winning the North 2, Group 2 title in 2022. This year, things went much better for coach Mike Rusek’s group, which pulled off the upset as the No. 1 seed. We were in the quarter finals last year. They opened this year’s tournament play with a dominant 6-1 victory over Mendham in the quarter-finals and an equally dominant 5-0 victory over Lyndhurst, before taking on second-seeded Madison, whom they beat 2-1 in the semi-finals. They faced their toughest test.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

hackettstown

Ibrahim Bah, Sr. (35 goals, seven assists)
Yasseen Zoklat, Sr. (21 goals, 18 assists)
Michael Marrella, Sr. (4 goals, 11 assists)
Will Guardado, Jr. (seven goals, three assists)
Shay Patel, Jr., G (122 saves, seven shutouts)

harrison

Frank Barrera, Sr., F/M (19 goals, 5 assists)
Pedro Barreto Reis, So., M/F (10 goals, 3 assists)
Yusuf Jaite, Sr., M (five goals, 10 assists)
Christian Barrios, Jr., M/D (six goals, 10 assists)
Francisco Apolo, Sr., G (113 saves, five shutouts)

KEY FACTORS

home field advantage

There may not be a larger field in the entire Garden State than the one on which Harrison played. The Blue Tide can disperse teams and at times overwhelm them with their fast, possession style and ability to keep the ball on the ground. They are good at diagonal passes and changing pitches and more importantly everyone in the team is well conditioned and unselfish, allowing them to cover the whole pitch well early and often. If Harrison’s midfield and offense are firing on all cylinders and Harrison can play his game, good things usually happen for coach Mike Rusek Jr.’s group. Hackettstown may have a lot of work to do in that regard, but the scoring tandem of Zoklat and Bah is hard to ignore and Harrison will have a lot to contend with. Another thing that Hackettstown has working in its favor is adaptability. Other than the Caldwell game, Hackettstown advanced to the division finals playing on the road against Rutherford and Voorhees, and they went 10-2 on the road during the regular season, so while Harrison offers a unique test, Hackettstown does not. You don’t have to play within Warren County’s borders to find success.