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Underdogs with some bite: Buena Regional, Atlantic City boys teams post monumental wins
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Players come and players go.
But despite the cyclical nature of high school athletics, some teams seem to come into almost every season as one of the favorites or a team to beat.
And then there are those schools that seem to be in a constant state of rebuilding, seemingly going into every season as an underdog.
Two of those perennial underdogs in recent years, Buena Regional and Atlantic City, decided recently to jump up and take a bite out of a pair of area stalwarts.
Outside its own locker room, not many people gave Buena much of a chance as it prepared to face defending South Jersey and state Non-Public B and Cape-Atlantic League National Conference champ Sacred Heart on Sept. 16.
"They are state champs so of course if you're going to make odds we were going to be the underdog," Buena coach Robert Seelhorst said.
But you could just tell Seelhorst and the Chiefs didn't really believe they were an underdog at all.
"I really felt like they were the ones with something to lose," senior midfielder Dave Silipino said. "They were the ones that were defending state champs."
But as Sacred Heart's Nick Gazarra scored two minutes in to give the Lions the early lead, a funny thing happened.
The Chiefs didn't quit, fighting back to win the game rather than accepting the loss as fate.
Dom Crowell tied the game midway through the first and assisted on Stevan Austino's game-
winner in the second as Buena beat Sacred Heart 2-1 for the first time since 2002.
Senior goalkeeper Tyler Callahan had 13 saves.
But just how big can a win be for a program?
Callahan said there is a newfound buzz surrounding Buena soccer.
"It wouldn't have the same feeling the rest of the season if we didn't get that win," Callahan said.
Instead, the Chiefs reference that win almost daily.
It's something they can hang their hat on.
"Now we go into our games saying we need to play how we played against Sacred Heart, play like we did that day," Silipino said. "It means a lot for our season."
"We wanted to see what its like to beat a team like that and we came out with the fire and we came out with the heart to beat them."
Atlantic City knows how good the Chiefs felt.
The Vikings won the biggest game in school history on Sept. 15, beating Ocean City 3-1 behind two goals from junior J.P. Zuleta.
Ocean City had won 41 straight matches against Atlantic City and hadn't lost against a Cape-Atlantic League American Conference team since 2002.
"I had to ask my assistant coach if it was really over and if we had really beat Ocean City," Atlantic City coach Kevin Semet said. "I really wasn't sure."
The only other win Atlantic City has against the Red Raiders came Oct. 31, 1983.
Semet admitted even he had a tough time downplaying the importance of the Ocean City win.
"Hopefully, we will win a lot more games and (wins) are all the same," Semet said. "But who are we kidding? Ocean City is Ocean City."
"I think it finally showed us that all the summer practices and all the hard work was worth it. …It was gratifying showing them that on any give day they can compete with anyone."
Atlantic City lost back-to-back games after beating Ocean City.
Buena Regional, on the other hand, is 4-0 with wins against Wildwood Catholic, Buena Regional, Holy Spirit and Sacred Heart.
Austino has six goals and Crowell five. Silipino controls the midfield while stopper Bryan Adams and Callahan have been strong in the back.
The Chiefs are now the hunted.
"I never really thought about it that way," Callahan said. "But we can't worry about that sort of stuff. If we play our game, we should be fine."
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Posted in Sports, Highschool, Breaking_news on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 12:50 am Updated: 7:01 pm.
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