HAMILTON - On a day when the legends came out to salute Mercer County soccer royalty, a Steinert team linked to both honorees made their memories proud.
The Spartans took a 2-0 victory over Hamilton West on Cowell Field Friday as Bayron Godinez scored a late first-half goal and Mathias Perez had an early second-half tally.
It was a fitting Spartan victory as it came following memorial field dedications at nearby Veterans Park fields for former Steinert/Rider great Bob Rostron and former Steinert coach Paul Tessein, who won four state titles.
Tessein is the great uncle of Steinert coach Anthony Tessein, and was also a Hamilton West grad. Both current teams came out for the well-attended celebration that featured countless former All-State and All-American players from Steinert and several other schools.
Speeches were given by Mayor Jeff Martin and several others involved with the project, while Brian Rostron and Scott Tessein gave emotional speeches about their dads.
"I thought the dedication was very nice," Tessein said. "It was appropriate. I also knew Mr. Rostron. Just like Brian said in his speech, he was out at almost every game. He was at a lot of our games, I'd see him over at the GAK. He was always talking about soccer.
"I thought it was a great day for two very deserving people. And of course it meant a lot to my family, to (Paul's) sons and daughter. My boys were watching, soaking it all up. I think it's nice when they hear that stuff and hear what people did to earn these honors. It's a nice reminder about Steinert soccer and why this rivalry (with West) still matters."
Steinert senior back Elliot Morris may be 35 years removed from when Tessein coached his last game but he, too, has a link to the legend. His dad, Scott Morris, played for him.
"Coach definitely had a talk with us and told us the importance of this," Morris said. "My dad has mentioned him, and coach definitely tells us a lot about him.
"He also told us to not make that a distraction to this game. He made sure we knew that even though we wanted to be there and we showed out, he wanted us to know we had to lock in and lock it down and get ready for the game."
Steinert did just that, dominating possession thanks to an outstanding midfield effort from Tyler and Matt Tafrow, Chris Dimarco, Mathias Perez, Zach Barton, Derek Monahan, and Godinez. The Spartans (2-0) won numerous battles to prevent Hamilton from going on attack as the Hornets (0-2) had just three shots.
The midfield play, along with Steinert's strong defense, has led to just five shots on goal and two shutouts to start the season.
"I feel pretty confident with our back line but I feel even more confident with our midfielders," Morris said. "They really stop the ball from moving forward and coming to the back line. But if that ball does come to the back, I know our back line is the strongest in Hamilton and possibly the CVC."
Morris and Jacob Reilly return in the back and have been joined by junior Ryan Checkowski, who played varsity last year but is in his first season of starting.
"He's taken over for Liam Gardiner and he's really stepping up and doing the job," Morris said. "I give props to coach, he puts us through drills for the back line and gets us right in our shaping."
Tessein agreed with his defender that the midfield played a big part in the victory and the defenders came up big when necessary.
"We really kept them out of our half and a few times when we made a little mistake and they got it down the field, our defense did not panic," the coach said. "They were in the right spot. We drill them on that stuff. They did everything we asked so I'm happy."
Neither team mounted much offense early. Hamilton's Alexander Garcia Cruz's low shot saved by Dennis Chaykovskyy was the most dangerous opportunity for either side.
Steinert began to heat up and with 15 minutes remaining in the half, Godinez was robbed on a spectacular diving stop by Evan Hamilton, the Hornets stellar sophomore goalie.
"He comes up in the big moment," Hornet coach Simon LaPointe said. "He had a good day today. I have complete confidence in him. I was happy with him being aggressive. With the counters they had he made a lot of big saves on those opportunities."
Tessein agreed, saying "Their goalkeeper made some nice saves, a hat tip to him. He made this game closer than it should have been."
Shortly after Hamilton's big save, Matt Tafrow had a shot go off the post as Steinert's frustration continued. But with 5:40 remaining Sam Narkun sent one in front that rolled to Godinez, who had a wide open goal to tap it in.
Steinert struck early in the second half when Perez converted a cross from Monahan.
"We need (shots) to start falling," Tessein said. "We hit the post a few times; six inches here or there. We're really hoping by the end of the year the goals start to fall. This is probably the best we've looked offensively including preseason and our first game. It's the most chances we've created for sure, so I think that's progress."
Steinert had 17 shots, including nine on goal. Tyler Tafrow had a shot go off the crossbar in the second half, and was stymied by Hamilton on a breakaway.
"It's a good rivalry, the whole game was hard fought," Tessein said. "They made us work to the very end. Even though we had possession, that doesn't count for anything. Ten passes don't equal a goal. But I think the goals are gonna come."
LaPointe had no complaints about his team.
"We're still working on the possession and the IQ dynamic of the game but I'm happy with the way they competed," he said. "They left it all on the field."
In other words, typical Steinert-Hamilton.
Which is how it should be on the day two township legends were honored.