Riker followed through with his intention, blasting the ball into the lower-right corner of the goal. His perfect placement pushed sixth-seeded Montclair High to a 1-0 victory over the third-seeded Pirates in the quarterfinal round of the 35th Essex County Tournament (ECT) this past Sunday in West Orange.

Diego Persico, Jakeem Johnson, Jay Duffy and George Steuart had all connected for MHS before Riker. Seton Hall missed on one of its five attempts, setting the stage for Riker’s decisive kick.

"I was just trying to stay as calm as possible, put any nervousness behind me and put the ball into the right spot," Riker said moments after his kick. "I shoot for the same spot every time. As a righty, it’s more comfortable to shoot to the right side."

Montclair faces second-seeded Millburn High in Millburn with an ECT final berth on the line Sunday at 2 p.m. The Millers (7-2), county champs last year, are led by seniors Hennie Bosman and Roger McGlynn in the middle and front thirds. Junior Chris Benedict, who is being recruited by several Div. I programs, shores up the defense along with senior goalie Peter Daniels.

Millburn defeated Montclair, 4-1, in the ’07 semis.

"It’s nice to have another shot at Millburn this year, especially with how well the boys are playing right now," MHS coach Jack Weber said Sunday. The locals carried an eight-match win streak into their tilt with Bergen Catholic yesterday. "I’m not too sure the guys are necessarily getting pumped up for one match more than another, they just want to win."

Despite playing 100 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Mounties and Pirates each had scoring chances. Senior captain Trent Murray, who was encouraged by Weber to work more into the offensive flow before the game, sent a cross to Persico less than a minute into the match that was turned away by DeFluri.

Senior goalie Adam Purdy then thwarted a run by the Prep, making an initial stop before pouncing on a loose ball. With just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half, SHP senior Emerson Lawrence put a cross on goal that sneaked by Purdy, but no Pirates strikers were in the area to knock it home.

MHS opened the second half with a flurry in front of the SHP goal, but senior defender Matt Falk cleared the ball off the goal line.

"That could have been a big missed opportunity," said Weber. "In a game that is that tight, you are always wondering if that is going to be your best chance. But our defense really did a great job of neutralizing their strikers and getting us to penalty kicks."

In regulation, Purdy’s fourth of five saves during the match was his best. The Montclair captain stopped a point-blank offering from Lawrence with 25:30 remaining. In addition to his five stops, Purdy also kept the ball from Pirate strikers on several throw-ins, direct kicks and indirect kicks.

"I knew I had to sacrifice my body and do anything to get to the ball. They have guys who really know how to score in front, so clearing the area was my top priority," Purdy said.

DeFluri robbed Riker 2:45 into the second overtime, and Mountie junior Oliver Waldner couldn’t get enough of his foot on the rebound to send it home. The near miss was the last legitimate scoring chance for either team before the penalty kicks.

In the PK session, SHP clanked the left post on its second kick, setting up Riker’s game-winner.