Thriller at Red Bull Arena! Becton boys soccer downs Wood-Ridge in overtime in MLS stadium

HARRISON – Brandon Gjekaj laid on the grass at Red Bull Arena, looked up at the stadium around him and basked in a moment he'll remember for the rest of his life.

For one night, the boys from Becton were the kings of Harrison.

The Becton senior and Red Bulls fanatic scored the winning goal almost three minutes into overtime to send the Wildcats past archrival Wood-Ridge, 2-1, on Monday night in the first Bergen County boys soccer match at the MLS venue. The Route 17 Derby ended with a missile off his bright blue left cleat.

"By far the best moment of my life," Gjekaj said. "As soon as it left my foot, I knew it was going in."

The final shot was his second goal of the night and completed a comeback for the first-place Wildcats. Becton players raced over to their fan section and turned a crowd of roughly 400 people into a loud cacophony.

Gjekaj pointed to his dad and girlfriend in the stands before getting drenched with ice water by one of his teammates.

"I've played up through college and played in some big, big, big arenas and stadiums but nothing like this," Becton coach Michael Furino said. "This is a chance of a lifetime. We got offered to take it on and I jumped at it full speed. But it would have been a long bus ride home losing 1-0."

This was the third high school takeover this season at Red Bull Arena – following the trend set by the Lyndhurst and North Arlington girls (Sept. 20), and the Westfield and Scotch Plains-Fanwood boys (Sept. 22).

Teams had access to the Red Bull locker rooms and team benches and saw their school logo displayed on the scoreboards. It was a unique experience for Becton, both emotionally and tactically.

The field dimensions were much wider than at Riggin Field, which forced the Wildcats to switch formations and use the wings more to press forward.

"At halftime, I didn't go in there and yell and scream," Furino said. "I said listen, settle down. We'll do our thing. Be composed and we'll come out and win it and sure enough we did. Sometimes you don't want to fight fire with fire. With too much adrenaline, you lose focus."

Turning points

Becton kept its focus even after falling down 1-0 on a goal by Marcello Avila in the 47th minute. The Wildcats had the edge in possesion and shots on goal (13-to-4) and eventually broke through midway through the second half. Gjekaj tied it up by following his own miss on a penalty kick after a handball in the box.

The overtime goal came in the run of play when Sal Fonseca sent him a pass near the top of the box. Gjekaj took one touch before drilling a shot that went inches under the right crossbar.

"It felt like Christmas morning as soon as it left his foot," Furino said.

"We've been thinking about this for so long now," Becton goalie Dominic Maucione said. "It's been almost 200 days. It's awesome. It's breath-taking."

It may be cliche to call it a dream come true, but that's exactly what happened for the Becton midfielder. It was right after practice on Sunday when senior Martin Lipinski laid out the vision that came to him one night: his teammate would score the winner in overtime and run to the crowd like never before. Gjekaj laughed it off after dropping off his midfield running mate.

"I'm like, dude, no way," Gjekaj said. "He came up to me right after the game like, I told you so."

What it means

Becton (7-5) has taken over first place in the NJIC Meadowlands by a half-game with Bergen Charter and Wallington both idle. The win also gives the Wildcats the edge in the all-time series with Wood-Ridge after splitting the first 18 meetings.

"Everyone was focused. Everyone was locked in," Gjekaj said. "We came here to get a win for the team and thank God it happened. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to play here. It's unreal."

Up next

Becton is back in action Tuesday when it faces Bergen Charter at Johnson Park in Hackensack.

Wood-Ridge battles archrival Hasbrouck Heights at home on Wednesday.

Last words

"We take it very seriously," Furino said. "If we lost, I probably wouldn't have slept for weeks."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Thriller at Red Bull Arena: Becton boys soccer downs Wood-Ridge in OT