Randolph Boys Soccer, the No. 5 seed, was knocked out of the Morris County Tournament (MCT) in the semifinal round, with Delbarton winning 1-0 after 80 minutes on Tuesday, Oct 17.
The MCT semifinals were played @ Mount Olive, with the Hanover Park Hornets (7) beating Morris Knolls (6), 1-0, in a double overtime thriller. This was followed by Randolph’s (5) loss to Delbarton (1), starting at 7:30 p.m.
The annual tournament hosts all of the 27 high schools within Morris County, who compete to determine the best team. When the seeds came out earlier this month, with no surprise to anyone, Delbarton was seeded at the top; this Delbarton team is consistent, strong and ranked top 5 in the State. Currently, Delbarton has made it to the MCT finals, where the team will face Hanover (7) on Saturday, Oct. 21, at Roxbury High School.
Mount Olive followed as the No. 2 seed. Currently 13-1-2, this team is great all around. Additionally, the MO defense is solid, and with senior Goalie Kristian Dobbek, they’d only let in a handful of goals. MO made it to the quarterfinal round, where they were felled by Hanover, 3-1.
No. 3 seeded Mendham was looking to avenge last year’s loss in the final. Coming in at 6-4 in the American Conference, Mendham is a solid team that went into the MCT coming off of a 1-0 win against Morris Hills. However, Morris Hills bit back and took Mendham out of the tourney in the quarterfinal round, 4-1.
Coincidentally, Morris Hills was the No. 4 seed, right behind Mendham, and has a current record of 7-7-2. Following a four-game losing streak, Hills was looking to turn it around in the MCT tournament. They made it as far as the semis, where they were eliminated by Randolph, 1-0.
Next up was Randolph. Seeded at No. 5, the Rams are currently 6-5 in the American Conference. The Rams recently ended their four-game winning streak against Delbarton in a 2-1 loss and lost again against Hunterdon Central on Monday, Oct. 9. Randolph was determined to repeat their 2021 tournament run where they won the whole thing. While the Rams came close, they got stopped by Delbarton in the semis.
The last team of note is No. 6 seeded Morris Knolls. They are currently 9-6 in the National Conference. With Giacomo and Giovanni Zizza scoring a combination of 32 goals and assisting 27 times, they were bound to be in high scoring games this season. However, Hanover beat them, 1-0, in the semis in a double overtime thriller.
The MCT final match between Hanover and Delbarton, who’s favored to win, is this upcoming Saturday, October 21, at Roxbury High School.
