Talk about living up to your name, or at least your nickname.
With Garfield trailing by a goal in the final minutes of its Group 2 boys soccer championship game with Holmdel on Nov. 22, Dave Herrera made two plays within 27 seconds that changed everything.
First, The Record Male Athlete of the Week delivered a perfect ball off a free kick that Wojciech Piwowarczyk headed in to tie the game at 1. Less than a half-minute later, Herrera scored on another free kick to give Garfield the win and its first state title.
It was a stellar performance by the senior forward who has come up big in the key moments so many times that it’s given rise to his nom de plume.
“In big games, I know how I want to play,” Herrera said. “I want to step up. As a joke with my teammates and I, we always call myself Mr. Clutch. Even in big games, I’ve always scored or done something that helped the team win.”
