LAWRENCE TWP. – The biggest play in one of the regular-season’s biggest games came from a Hamilton Square backyard combination. Tyler Tafrow converted a pass from twin brother Matt with 8:06 remaining in regulation to give Steinert a 1-0 victory over Notre Dame Tuesday. The win secured the Spartans second place in the Colonial Valley Conference Colonial Division and most likely a second seed in the upcoming CVC Tournament. Steinert completed division play with 12 points while unbeaten Robbinsville, who the Spartans tied two weeks ago, ended with 13 after beating Hopewell. Steinert ended four straight halves (and a partial overtime) of scoreless soccer when Matt Tafrow gathered the ball on the right wing and centered it to his brother, who was around 10 yards out. Tyler teed it up and the ball hit the bottom of the crossbar before spinning in on only the second shot of the game for Steinert. Just how many times had the twins done that play at home? “Probably hundreds,” Matt said. “I tried to pressure. I saw my brother and I just played it. We’ve been waiting for it all season – brother to brother.” “Growing up together we have a good little combination, a nice chemistry,” Tyler said. “It’s a great feeling to get the goal, especially from my brother making a great play.” It played out exactly how Steinert (10-2-3, 5-0-2) had hoped. The Spartans have lived on their defense this season and faced a major challenge against an Irish team (12-5, 4-3) that has scored 69 goals. Notre Dame had possession for nearly the entire first half and much of the second, and its best opportunity came when Landon Hoenisch shot one off the crossbar in the 27th minute. Irish coach Bryan Fisher summed the game up with the wisdom of his high school coach at West Windsor-Plainsboro, the late Maynard Welsh. “One of the legendary coaches in this county, who’s no longer with us, always said ‘It’s about scoring goals,’” Fisher said. “And guess what? You can possess 90 percent of the game, but credit to Steinert. They played their game, they waited for their opportunity and made the most of it. “It looked good for us at times. Unfortunately we have struggled in the bigger games this year to finish the job and we need to find an answer to that quickly before the CVC tournament.” After Steinert’s goal, Notre Dame pressured as Hoenisch had a header punched out by Dennis Chaykovskyy, who also made saves on late shots by Cayden O’Rourke and 22-goal scorer Will Lynch. Lynch’s shot came in the closing seconds. “I kind of got a tip on it, into the sun,” said Lynch, the area’s top scorer. “I just got a foot on it, the keeper did tip it and got it caught under his leg. “It was really frustrating. We had many chances, just couldn’t put it in the back of the net. They’re a good team. They brought the intensity. We have the players and talent. We have to match the intensity and energy and the game will go our way.” The Irish had it figured out for two-thirds of the field, but when they hit the attacking third they were met by Steinert’s rugged back line of Jake Reilly, Elliott Morris and Ryan Checkowski. Morris played like a man possessed while his partners on the outside handled their responsibilities. “A lot of times the three of them were one versus one,” Steinert coach Anthony Tessein said. “I played defense my entire life and that’s not a position you want to be in, three versus three with the dangerous players they have. They held strong. Elliot’s anticipation was on another level today, stepping to balls before they’re even passed. He’s already seen the lane. “They’re together back there. They kind of read what each other can do, it’s a nice asset.” Lynch added that “It’s definitely hard to get the ball in the air against them. Even making runs off them is hard. We’re trying different things, trying to cross the ball. They’re a solid three, they were just clearing everything out.” And their good work helped notch Steinert’s eight shutout and allowed for Tafrow’s goal to make the difference. “We came out really slow in the first half,” Matt Tafrow said. “Second half we got a little better.” “Coach talked to us at halftime and made all the adjustments to get us going,” added Tyler Tafrow, who’s now tied for the team lead with five goals. “It got better as it went on. We knew the chance would come; it was just a matter of finishing it when it did.” It all went according to plan. “We were thinking ‘Just hang around,’” Tessein said. “We seem to score when it matters and that certainly was true today. We haven’t paired those two up top a ton. It’s only been a few times. “We were trying to pick some spots where we could throw some extra numbers up. We don’t score a ton of goals but we felt confident coming in, even with their record of goal scoring, that with our defense we could keep it close. Obviously we did. We survived a few flurries.” And got a win that Matt Tafrow called “absolutely huge.” His brother chimed in that “It was a good win and builds a lot of confidence going into the tournaments.” Tyler admitted, however, he had some concerns when Notre Dame pressured at the end. “It’s hard to watch it sometimes,” he said. “But we know defending is our strong suit with our back three and our goalkeeper. We know the defensive effort will be everything they have.” And they needed every bit of that effort to make the backyard connection mean something special. Steinert (10-2-3) 0 1 – 1 Notre Dame (12-5) 0 0 – 0 G: T. Tafrow. A: M. Tafrow. Shots: S-4. N-13. Saves: S-Chaykovskyy 7, N-Merluse 1.