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Sports

Goepel's 2OT Goal Lifts Chatham into Final

Cougars avenge only loss of season, advance to face Holmdel in championship.

's 19th goal this season, scored in double overtime, propelled the Chatham High School men's soccer team past Montville 1-0 Tuesday night at Ridge High School in the NJSIAA Group III semifinals.

The Cougars advance to face Holmdel, which beat Hammonton 3-0, in the Group III championship game Friday night at the College of New Jersey in Ewing at 5:30 p.m.

The semifinal showdown between the Morris County rivals took place on a cold and stormy night. When they last met in the final of the , Montville handed Chatham (22-1-1) its only loss of the season.

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The Cougars got their revenge when Goepel's strike from 25 yards out lofted into the upper-left corner of the goal, out of the reach of Montville goalkeeper Robert Swallow with 3:02 left to play in the second overtime.

Goepel gave credit to his teammates for his winning goal. "It was a great layoff, and a great third pass before that," he said.

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Coming through in the clutch has become the norm for Goepel, Chatham coach Gene Foca said.

"Conor put in another great goal," he said. "That's his 19th goal of the year. He's got a knack for big game goals and I'm not surprised he put it in."

Montville (24-2) created several opportunities to start the game thanks to senior standout and the Rutgers-bound J.P. Correa, who consistently found ways to penetrate Chatham's defense in the first half.

"Montville dominated the first half of the game," Foca said. "I felt like they had us pinned in our end, they possessed the ball a lot more than in the first game we played them in, our touches were not great, we were not passing to feet."

The fast pace continued in the second half  and into overtime before Goepel finally broke the deadlock and sent the Cougars storming off the bench in celebration.

"I thnk we had fresher legs, because we were substituting throughout the game and they were not," Foca said, "and as we gained momentum I think that really helped us."

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