Jason Camardo had history at his feet.
And the Sterling senior slammed home a lightning bolt.
Sunday evening at Franklin High School Camardo ended the New Jersey boys soccer season with a bang that was 48 years in the making, giving Sterling a 3-2 double-overtime win over Harrison to win its first outright state championship and second overall. Sterling shared the title in 1976.
With just under seven minutes left in the second 10-minute overtime, Sterling was awarded a free kick to the right of the goal 60 yards away. Seconds later, at the 6:36, to be exact, the Silver Knights were state champions.
“We talked about something like that before the game, but it was kind of just on the fly, to be honest,” Camardo said. “They set the whole thing up, played it to Dean (Collins) who played it in to Connor (Maenner) and he played it for me. I was able to finish it.”
It was just that easy.
Anthony Ortiz-Torrecilla set the works into motion, crossing the ball to the opposite sideline 55 yards out. From there Collins served it to Maenner just inside the 18-yard box. All Maenner had to do was redirect it to Camardo who was breaking toward the left post. The goalie had no chance.
Camardo claimed the play happened on the fly, but it was a bug coach Pete Marlys put into his team’s head long before.
“We have worked on it,” Marlys said. “I actually wanted us to run it at the end of regulation. I was furious that they didn’t. I let them know that, then they did it there. And they executed.”
Did they ever.
Sterling finished the season with a 14-5-5 record, closing out the campaign with seven wins and a tie. And a state championship.
Not only that the Silver Knights did so against a program that shares the state record with 16 state titles, a Blue Tide team that was playing in its 25th state final. Sterling was under pressure all night.
“It was hard,” senior back Max Bliem said. “They attacked us with great pace, great control. They played well together. It’s hard to defending that when they when the team can play around you, pass together, build up. We just came out here and did what we do. We’ve been doing it all season. We’ve been saying we’re the best defense in South Jersey. Now I think we’re the best Group 2 team in New Jersey.”
Against the highly skilled Harrison side, Sterling wasn’t going to try to play straight up.
“We knew we were the underdog for sure,” Marlys said. “There was no doubt about it. We knew we could not play the same style that Harrison did and try to outplay them in that style. We committed to just being organized and picking our opportunities. We didn’t get many, but we made the most of them.”
The first great opportunity came when a turnover and a quick ball forward found Camardo alone on the Harrison keeper. the initial shot was saved, but the rebound came out to Maenner, who made it 1-0 with 16 minutes left in the first half.
The joy lasted all of 80 seconds. Harrison was awarded a penalty kick and Cristian Carranza converted to knot the game at 1-1. The deadlock remained until the 23-minute mark of the second half, when Christian Barrios gave the Blue Tide the lead.
Minutes later, another of those opportunities, Marlys spoke about cropped up. Sterling was fouled eight yards from the endline and five yards outside the left edge of the penalty area. Sophomore Ethan Weitzel lined up the free kick and lifted it over the defense and into the right side-panel of the goal to tie the game with 19:53 left in regulation.
It is safe to say that Weitzel will remember his first career goal.
“We’ve had trust in Ethan for a while,” Bliem said. “He’s been a starter all year, no goals, but he’s been playing incredible all year. Makes the plays with his assists. He makes the game-winning plays. We’ve been waiting for him to put one in, and he did it on the biggest stage. That’s what we needed.”
Under pressure for almost all of the 93 minutes of play, the Sterling defense never wilted. Travis Schmid had seven saves to keep the Knights in a position to steal the win.
“Travis comes out and brings it every day,” Bliem said. “He tries his hardest. You could see him after the PK. He was mad. He let a PK in and that’s not his fault. He does what he does every game. He wants to save everything, and he has had a ton of shutouts this year. He’s one of the best goalies there is.”
Every level of the Sterling team played its part. For 93-plus minutes, the Silver Knights proved they were champions.
“This was about the boys’ effort,” Marlys said. “It’s about their character. It’s an unbelievable group of boys. I’ve known them for a very long time. They come from great families. To win it with these guys is really, really special.”
Sterling sophomore Connor Maenner scored the first goal and assisted on the double-overtime game-winner.
Harrison junior Cristian Carranza tied the game at 1-1 with a first-half penalty kick and bedeviled the Sterling defense throughout the game.
Sterling senior Travis Schmid stopped seven shots to keep the Knights in the game long enough to pull out the win.
What do you call the third-place team in the Colonial Conference Liberty Division?
State champions.
On, and the fourth-place team? Well, Haddon Township came within two minutes of winning its own state title.
“I think South Jersey proved it today,” Marlys said. “I think our conference has proved it in the past three weeks. When I say we proved it today, I’m not just talking about Sterling. Haddon Township played a great game. Shawnee won it. We’re really proud of South Jersey soccer, for sure.”
Sterling finished behind Haddon Heights and West Deptford, with Haddon Township fourth. Two of those teams played for state titles. Both teams were prepared — and roughed up — through a rugged 10-game division schedule.
“We knew from the beginning of year we could do this,” Camardo said. “We’ve been working on it. Obviously, we didn’t win the division. We set out to win the sectional and state championships. Those championships are better. We came out here and won our sections. Then we came out here and won the state. It’s amazing.”
Tom Rimback grew up reading the Burlington County Times and Courier Post sports sections and began writing for the BCT in 1996. He has covered everything from Super Bowls and Final Fours to Tri-County Swimming but he’s happiest on a sideline interviewing South Jersey scholastic athletes. Follow him on twitter @Rimbacksports. Email him with story ideas at tomrimback@gmail.com and, most importantly, support local journalism with a subscription to the Courier-Post.
