Sussex Men Defeat Raritan Valley, Clinch the Third Seed in the Playoffs

The Sussex men's soccer team hosted Raritan Valley Tuesday to finish up the regular season. The game began with a cermony to recognize Matthew Borja, a former player from Raritan Valley who was struck and killed by a New Jersey Transit train on Thursday night. Flowers were placed at midfield as both teams took a moment of silence. 

As the game got underway, Raritan was playing with a lot of passion. Dennis Espinal, one of the captains of Raritan, had his team very well organized and almost took advantage of a couple of early opportunities. The Skylanders settled in as the second half started, cashing in on their first scoring chance of the half. Sheikh Alum started the scoring off for the Skylanders with a ball from Adrian Almanzar. 10 minutes later, Raritan's Nathan Ambrogio would respond by scoring off a cross from Adrian Vicenta Bailon. Sussex would soon after pick up its second goal of the game, thanks to Adrian Sanchez, and would later clinch the game with a goal by Deon Waldmeier. Coach Vernacchio said, "I am very proud of the boys and excited to lock up the 3rd seed in the Region. It is so important to have home field advantage during the playoffs and with this win we will be able to play home in a Semi Final game." 

With the win, the Sussex men's soccer team will enter the playoffs as the third seed gaining a bye this weekend. The Sussex Skylanders will play the winner of Delware County and Middlesex County, 2:30 Wednesday at home (Frankford Park).