South Jersey Soccer:
Barons Lose Second Straight Shoot-out, 2-1 to Riptide at Carey!

Saturday, July 11, 1998

By Forrest Robleto
SJSports Staff Writer

Ocean City, NJ - The USISL Shoot-Out tie breaker pit the South Jersey Barons for the second straight time Saturday night, in a D-3 Pro League soccer match at Carey Stadium, here. Following 90 minutes of regulation time and a 15 minute sudden death overtime, the Barons and their Mid-Atlantic Division rival, the Central Jersey Riptide, found themselves deadlocked at one goal apiece. Central Jersey proved more proficient at the shoot-out, however, outscoring the Barons 4-3 through 10 shoot-out rounds.

For the Barons it is the second consecutive shoot-out loss following a team record eight game win streak. The loss drops South Jersey's record to 9-4 in league contests (10-7 overall), while Central Jersey improves to a league record of 6-5. South Jersey remains in first place in the division, however, with 27 league points. The win gives Central Jersey an additional league point (16 total).

The Barons opened the scoring in the 62nd minute when Paul Wimbleton volleyed home a perfect Liam Watson cross from six yards out. With Paul Royal coming up with several big saves down the stretch in goal, the game looked to be South Jersey's to win. A tripping foul in the box with 11 minutes remaining resulted in a Riptide penalty shot, however, and Phil Napolitano converted to equalize - beating Royal to the lower right corner.

Under USISL rules for a shoot-out each team gets 5 shots from 35 yards. The shooter has five seconds to score. If the teams are still tied then they continue trading shots until one team scores and the other doesn't (sudden death). In the shoot-out tie-breaker, both teams scored twice in the initial round of five shooters. There were five sudden death rounds before the match was decided. Chris Brauchle scored for Central Jersey, and Pat O'Kelly failed to equalize, giving Central Jersey the win.

Central Jersey outshot the Barons 11 to 6 on the night, with Royal making four saves to Steve Widdowson's three for Central Jersey. Wimbelton's goal was his fourth of the year.

The Barons return to action on Friday, July 17 when they host the Brooklyn Knights at Carey Stadium, located between 5th and 6th and the Boardwalk, kicking off at 6:00 PM. Prior to that match there will be a youth clinic co-hosted by the Barons and the New York New Jersey MetroStars at 4:30 PM. Cost for the clinic is $15.00, which includes admission to the Barons game that evening and admission to any future MetroStars 1998 regular season game.

Photos by Forrest Robleto