Hometown Hero News

ROXBURY, NJ — Delbarton has played three Morris County Tournament games this month and won them by a combined score of 18-0. The one team standing between the Green Wave and the trophy is the only team that has beaten them all season.

Top seed Delbarton meets No. 2 seed Randolph on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Roxbury for the Morris County Tournament championship — the opener of a title doubleheader, with the girls final to follow — and it is our Boys Game of the Week.

THE MACHINE

Delbarton's tournament path reads like a misprint: 6-0 over Morris Knolls, 6-0 over Roxbury, 6-0 over Dover in Saturday's semifinal. Junior goalkeepers Vayun Swamy and Cole Abere had allowed just four goals all season when the semifinals began, and sophomore Cortland Martin — nine goals and 10 assists entering the semifinal round — leads an attack that got five goals and five assists from Henry Ferro and six goals from Dylan Mazzarella earlier this month.

There is a wrong being righted here, too. Last fall, Delbarton failed to reach this final for the first time since 2010. This October has been the answer.

THE ONE TEAM

Randolph (the No. 2 seed) took the bumpier road: a 4-1 win over Mount Olive, a quarterfinal escape against Madison that needed penalty kicks, and a 4-0 semifinal win that ended 14th-seeded Morris Hills' Cinderella run. Seniors Andrei Nitulescu (10 goals, two assists entering the semifinals) and Felipe Pesa (five goals, six assists) power the Rams, with senior Brayden Hendrickson in goal.

And then there is the history. Randolph won the season opener between these two, 1-0, on an Andrew Rosenberg goal — still Delbarton's only loss. Of the four goals the Green Wave have allowed all season, three were scored by Randolph.

The machine against the one team that cracked it, with a county crown on the line. Saturday at Roxbury is the best soccer day of the fall — and it starts at 5.

Tournament bracket, scores and rankings compiled from Daily Record and MaxPreps reports.