HAMILTON — The Steinert High varsity boys’ soccer team used the final week of the 2024 regular season to try to get back to playing its best. Head coach Anthony Tessein’s squad, which played well enough during the regular season to earn a third seed for the NJSIAA’s Central Jersey Group III Tournament, knows it still has some things it needs to do better after suffering a 3-2 loss at home against an equally good Monroe High team Friday. The Spartans twice tied the Falcons, who will be a No. 5 seed in next week’s Central Jersey Group IV Tournament. But, with 2:09 remaining in regulation, saw Monroe’s Aidan Ayar connect on a pass from teammate Dom Duarte to give the visitors the win. “We have to start the postseason like we did at the beginning of the year,” senior goalkeeper Dennis Chaykovskyy said. Steinert went unbeaten through its first 11 games with its defense and offense playing crisply. After dropping two games to end the regular season, the Spartans are looking to straighten things out. “We’ve tried a new formation that we’re still learning,” said Chaykovskyy, who is of Ukrainian descent. “But I think if we put our minds together, we can still have connections like we used to have.” Though Monroe’s Nitin Malli put the visitors in the lead with 14:48 left in the first half when he put a pass from Marcus Aschettino under Chaykovskyy on a low crossing shot, Steinert was able to even the score a little over a minute later when Jay Vernon knocked a lead from Chris Dimarco past Falcons goalkeeper Nate Offenberg. But Ayar caused his first bit of trouble when he took a feed from Christopher “Fifo” Duran, then beat a defender and Chaykovskyy to put Monroe up, 2-1, with six minutes left before intermission. “We have to get our passing and communication back to where it was,” Chaykovskyy said. “Sometimes it clicks. Sometimes it doesn’t.” To keep playing “another day together,” as Tessein stressed to his players after the match, the Spartans will need to find the right connections to get their offense going again and take pressure off their defense. After Chaykovskyy (10 saves) covered a ball that Ayar hit off the post with 29:50 left in the second half, the home team found the life it had been seeking when Bayron Godinez lifted a shot over Offenberg for the tying score with 27:35 left. Steinert (13-4-3) will still need to play stronger in the state tournament if it wants to add a 10th star to its crest with another state title as it learned when Ayar turned and fired on Duarte’s centering pass with just over two minutes left to give the Falcons the same number of wins as the Spartans. Monroe (13-5-1)                  2   1    —    3 Steinert (13-4-3)                  1   1    —    2 Goals: Malli, Ayar 2 (M), Vernon, Godinez (S); Assists: MAschettino, Duran, Duarte (M), Dimarco 2 (S). Shots: 13 (M), 7 (S); Saves: Offenberg 5 (M), Chaykovskyy 10 (S). LAWRENCE 7, DELAWARE VALLEY 1 LAWRENCE TWP. — The Cardinals scored five times in the second half to pull away from the Terriers. Logan Cortacans had a hat trick for head coach Jeff Molinelli’s club, while Platon Trofimchuk added two goals with two assists. DelawareVal(6-12)              1   0    —    1 Lawrence (10-8-2)               2   5    —    7 Goals: Marquez (DV), Sepulveda, Trofimchuk 2, LCortacans 3, Trigueros-Gutierrez (L); Assists: Mendoza, Sepulveda 2, Trofimchuk 2, Trigueros-Gutierrez, Phillips (L). Shots: 5 (DV), 14 (L); Saves: Schulze 7 (DV), Dowd 4 (L). BORDENTOWN 2, NOTTINGHAM 1 BORDENTOWN — After the Northstars’ Marcos Bautista Osorio tied the game 15 minutes into the second half, Joey Klama came up with the game-winner for the Scotties with 16 minutes to play. Nottingham (8-11)               0   1    —    1 Bordentown(12-5-1)            1   1    —    2 Goals: Bautista Osorio (N), Crisostomo, Klama (B); Assist: Hosszu-Barrett (B). Shots: 9 (N), 11 (B); Saves: Umana 9 (N), Mellor 8 (B).