Zegarra goal boosts Moorestown

It was an imperfect shot that took a perfect bounce.

Pablo Zegarra's blast midway through the second half ricocheted off a defender and landed in the net to lift Moorestown to a 1-0 victory over Cherry Hill West on Thursday in a second-round game of the South Jersey Group 3 tournament in boys' soccer.

Zegarra, a senior forward, scored his 13th goal of the season to propel sixth-seeded Moorestown (11-7-2) to Monday's sectional semifinals against the winner of Friday's game between second-seeded Timber Creek and seventh-seeded Ocean City.

"The seed doesn't matter to us," Zegarra said. "We know we play good teams in the [Burlco] Liberty, and we play a lot of different teams in the tournament."

Zegarra took possession near the left side of the 18-yard line after a throw-in. He said he considered a crossing pass, but decided to take a shot.

The score came with 21 minutes, 53 seconds remaining in the second half.

"He hit it hard," Moorestown coach Mike Sutcliffe said. "He can hit them. He's special. He's so explosive. As Pablo goes, that's how our team goes."

Goalie Andrew Ricketti made nine saves for third-seeded Cherry Hill West, which finished with a 12-4-4 record.

"It was a well-played game on both sides," Cherry Hill West coach Dan Butler said. "We took it to them at times; they took it to us at times. The difference was that one goal, but good things are going to happen when you pull the trigger. Credit to Pablo for that."

The game was played in cold rain on the Lions' artificial-surface field.

Moorestown generated several good scoring chances from players such as Will McDonnell, Alex Croft, and Chad Gamble.

"It was frustrating," Sutcliffe said. "That's kind of the way it's been all season. When we play well, we can be as good as anybody."

Cherry Hill West's Andrew Schmotzer had a good chance on a header early in the game, and the Lions' Graham Haines made several good runs.

"We had some chances but we didn't finish," Butler said. "That's been the story at times this season."

Moorestown   0 1 – 1

Cherry Hill West   0 0 – 0

Goal: Pablo Zegarra.

Saves: M-Nick Savino 4; CHW-Andrew Ricketti 9.