Robbinsville goalkeeper Brody Kaplan scoops up the ball against Steinert during a CVC Colonial Division boys soccer game on Tuesday afternoon at the Steven J. Mayer Athletic Complex in Robbinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Steinert goalkeeper Dennis Chaykovskyy, front, grabs the ball before Robbinsville's Chris Lewis, back, can get there during a CVC Colonial Division boys soccer game on Tuesday afternoon at the Steven J. Mayer Athletic Complex in Robbinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Robbinsville's Leo Daniels, left, kicks the ball as Steinert's Sam Narkun, right, defends during a CVC Colonial Division boys soccer game on Tuesday afternoon at the Steven J. Mayer Athletic Complex in Robbinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Robbinsville's Mitchell Shapiro, left, follows through after taking a shot against STeinert during a CVC Colonial Division boys soccer game on Tuesday afternoon at the Steven J. Mayer Athletic Complex in Robbinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Robbinsville's Nico Matthews, left, and Steinert's Sam Narkun, right, chase after the ball during a CVC Colonial Division boys soccer game on Tuesday afternoon at the Steven J. Mayer Athletic Complex in Robbinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Robbinsville's Henry Honeywood, right, tries to keep the ball away from Steinert's Matt Tafrow, left, during a CVC Colonial Division boys soccer game on Tuesday afternoon at the Steven J. Mayer Athletic Complex in Robbinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Steinert's Zach Barton, right, tries to shield the ball away from Robbinsville's Noah Goldberg, left, during a CVC Colonial Division boys soccer game on Tuesday afternoon at the Steven J. Mayer Athletic Complex in Robbinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Steinert's Ryan Checkowski takes a throw in against Robbinsville during a CVC Colonial Division boys soccer game on Tuesday afternoon at the Steven J. Mayer Athletic Complex in Robbinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Robbinsville's Chris Lewis, right, and Steinert's Derek Monahan, left, challenge for the ball during a CVC Colonial Division boys soccer game on Tuesday afternoon at the Steven J. Mayer Athletic Complex in Robbinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Robbinsville's Ethan Pagani moves with the ball against Steinert during a CVC Colonial Division boys soccer game on Tuesday afternoon at the Steven J. Mayer Athletic Complex in Robbinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Show Caption1 of 10Robbinsville goalkeeper Brody Kaplan scoops up the ball against Steinert during a CVC Colonial Division boys soccer game on Tuesday afternoon at the Steven J. Mayer Athletic Complex in Robbinsville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)Expand ROBBINSVILLE – There were two undefeated boys soccer teams in the Colonial Valley Conference entering the match. There were two remaining when it ended. And Robbinsville was a little happier about that than Steinert. After trailing for nearly 60 minutes, the Ravens got a goal from Ethan Pagani with 1:21 remaining in regulation to forge a 1-1 tie with the Spartans. Both teams had some opportunities in overtime but neither could convert as Robbinsville (10-0-2, 4-0-1) clung to first place in the Colonial Division by one point over Steinert (8-0-3, 3-0-2) and Princeton. It was a rematch of last year’s Central Jersey Group III final, won by Robbinsville on penalty kicks. “I’m proud of the guys,” Ravens coach Jeff Fisher said. “They’ve got something inside of them. I told them after the game it’s gotta hit zeroes for us to stop. That kind of mentality will pay off later in the season.” Pagani was hoping for some kind of late heroics. “With five minutes left, I feel like the whole team starts to lose hope a little but you just have to have that last-ditch effort to push through,” he said. “Scoring with a minute left is a blessing. Coming out with a tie, I think that’s good for us.” Not so good for Steinert. “It’s tough playing the whole game up, and giving one up at the end,” said back Ryan Checkowski, who scored Steinert’s goal in the game’s 22nd minute. “I’m glad we kept fighting until the end and almost came out with the win.” The Spartans were without head coach Anthony Tessein, who got a red card against New Brunswick Saturday. Freshman coach Aaron Stanley ran the team and while he was bummed at missing out on a win, he was happy with the effort. “It was tough at the end,” Stanley said. “We knew they were gonna bring it in the last 10 minutes. That soccer. Overall we’re super proud with the way we played. Robbinsville is a top team in the county. I think we showed well, played well and executed our game plan today.” Steinert’s plan was to control the ball with short passing and it paid off for much of the game. The Spartans broke through with 18:11 left in the first half when Chris Dimarco sent a free kick on net that Checkowski headed in for his fourth goal this season. “I was fortunate,” the junior said. “I didn’t have to move much. It was a great pass.” Minutes later Steinert’s Brayden Quinn headed a corner kick just wide of the goal and the Spartans took a one-goal edge into halftime after outshooting the hosts, 10-4. Robbinsville tried playing long ball but was thwarted in the back by a big defensive wall of Checkowski, Jacob Reilly and Elliott Morris, “We weren’t expecting this,” Pagani said. “This whole game we were pushing for a goal and could never really find one. They had a bunch of really big center backs we couldn’t get through. It was basically over the top balls, that’s what we were trying to do and it just wasn’t working.” Checkowski is the newcomer in Steinert’s defense and has fit right in. “I think the main thing is positioning,” he said. “We’re always in the right spot to intercept the ball or keep the ball. Our coaches do a great job with the defense.” Early in the second half Steinert nearly got a huge insurance goal before Brody Kaplan made a diving save on Chris Vega-Ramirez’s shot. From that point, Robbinsville began to take the play and move forward. With 19 minutes left Mitch Shapiro sent a free kick in the box that keeper Dennis Chaykovskyy grabbed with bodies buzzing all around him. From there Nick Grippa redirected a pass just wide, Checkowski cleared a potentially dangerous cross by Grippa, and Shapiro had a free kick go off the crossbar with under five minutes left. Robbinsville finally got a break when Max Goldberg lofted a ball toward the box that glanced off Grippa and landed at Pagani’s feet. “It just went right to me,” he said. “I was able to bury it in the bottom corner.” Checkowski’s take was “they just caught us off guard.” Pagani’s feeling was “I would say it was a pretty lucky one.” Fisher thought it was a case of Robbinsville making its own luck. “When you’re putting on pressure and flying all around, those mistakes happen and you gotta capitalize,” he said. “Especially later in the game when it gets a little tighter. “We’ve got some guys that have some really good pace. Those three guys (in the back) did a really good job controlling that. In the second half we were stringing things together and trying to get in their half and keep it in their half as much as possible.” In the end, both sides felt they could take positives from the match-up, which is fast becoming one of Mercer County’s best rivalries. “As the freshman coach I think so, but I’m hoping Anthony was watching the livestream,” Stanley said with a laugh. “But I’m sure there were a lot of positives out of this game and this was a big game to build off for the rest of the season. We know what’s ahead and this was a playoff type atmosphere today.” “These are the games we need to play to make it far and maybe win a trophy,” Checkowski said. “I’m glad we played this game. It’s a good experience.” Robinsville felt likewise. “Most definitely (preparing) for the state tournament, scoring in big moments like that is big,” Pagani said. “We had adversity the whole game and this is one of the games we can build off of come tournament time.” Added Fisher “You try to take the good and the bad from whatever the result is and move on. We’ll learn from this and move on to the next one.” Steinert (8-0-3) 1 0 0 0 – 1 Robbinsville (10-0-2) 0 1 0 0 – 1 G: S-Checkowski. R-Pagani. A: S-Dimarco. R-Grippa  Shots: S-14, R-11. Saves: S-Chaykovskyy 8, R-Kaplan 8.