By: Sean Farrell – Record Sports

WALDWICK – Christian Ballaera hears it all the time.

By now, the Waldwick motto is ingrained in him.

The best defenders have to be its forwards.

So the Warriors’ captain played like one in one of the biggest games of his life.

Waldwick became the first team to shut out Wallington this season during a 2-0 victory on Tuesday in the North 1, Group 1 semifinal.

The Panthers came into the day averaging 5.27 goals per game.

But they had little time or space to do much of anything.

It all started up top with Ballaera.

“We were prepared,” Ballaera said. “We executed exactly what we practiced. We shut down their best players and we put balls in the back of the net.”

Ballaera is Waldwick’s leading scorer, someone who’s kept the offense going even while injuries took a toll on his teammates.

This time, the senior forward didn’t need a goal to help his team win.

He worked hard to step in passing lanes and get the ball back.

When the Panthers had possession, they often had to move the ball laterally instead of up the field.

There were very few decent chances to score.

“Christian set the tone for everything up there,” coach Jonathan Noschese said. “He’s the pivot man. He did his job. He got “Man of the Match” and he didn’t score. That should tell you everything. He was really relentless out there and kept the pressure on them.”

Waldwick and Wallington share a rich soccer history.

They have combined to win seven of the last 11 sectional titles, and four in a row during one stretch.

The Warriors knew there was little margin for error.

After last year’s quarterfinal loss to the Panthers, they regouped and worked on fixing their mistakes.

“They caught us on a bad foot,” Noschese said. “All summer and all season, we thought in the back of our mind that we’d like another chance. Not because we want to stick it to them. They just wanted to prove it to themselves that they could play better. You could see it out there that they wanted that opportunity.”

The first goal came from Dan Lee just after halftime. Down on the turf, Lee swung his right leg sideways for a scissor kick goal to get the Warriors on the board.

The second goal came with about 20 minutes left from Connor Conyngham, set up by a left side cross from Ballaera.

In the final two minutes, Wallington never got a shot off.

Ballaera killed off time with his speed down the wing, even hitting the post on one chance.      

The No. 2 seed Warriors (17-3-1) head back to the championship game with a shot at their third title in four years

“It would mean the world,” Lee said. “For the past three years, we’ve been working for this one moment. If it works out, it would mean everything to me and the team.”

North 1, Group 1

POMPTON LAKES 2, BOONTON 0: Goalie Jason Dubrovich kept his hot streak going for his third straight shutout in the sectional tournament. Yianni Ekonomides and Carlo Gonzalez both scored for the Cardinals, who’ve now outscored opponents by a 13-0 margin in state play.