Sunday October 5, MHS held two Morris County Tournament games for both girls and boys varsity soccer. The Lady Dodgers kicked off at 9 against the difficult opponent Hanover Park. Both teams were ranked very closely in the tournament seeding with Madison at seventh and Hanover Park at tenth. After two fairly easy games against low-seeded opponents last weekend, both teams were ready for a fight. The first half was a draw at 0-0. The ball stayed at the middle of the field, with only about 5 saves from each goalie. The second half started the same way with both teams fighting their hardest, until a free kick by Junior midfielder Bailey Hurst was headed into the goal by Junior foward Mackaella Goodwin to put the Dodgers ahead. Even Madison coach, Coach Lynott, said that the combination of the kick and header would have been amazing in the professional leagues. With only about 15 minutes to go, both teams kept fighting. The Lady Dodgers won 1-0, moving ahead to the quarterfinals to play Kinnelon.
At 11 Madison boy’s soccer (ranked number 7) took the field to play the tenth seed, Mendham. Both having a similar record, the game was known to be difficult. Early in the first half, Senior foward Dylan Amaral scored to put Madison up 1-0. A quick retaliation from Mendham made the game tied within the first 25 minutes. Second half, Senior defender Brendan Winsper scored a header off of Senior Yorman Cosme’s corner kick to put Madison up 2-1. After great position and multiple shots, Madison looked like they were going to win. Late in the half after a miscommunication with the referee, Mendham tied it up by a goal off a corner kick. With both teams very excited, they fought to a draw in the last minutes of the half. Overtime only went about 7 minutes, but both teams kept fighting hard. Junior defender Tim Azzolini scored to end the game after another corner kick by Yorman Cosme. They play second seeded Mount Olive on Sunday in the quarterfinals.
Two great Dodger wins occurred Sunday in front of many supporters for both teams. Dodger soccer is very proud of their success and hopes to bring the success with them as they continue further into the Morris County Tournament.