Colonia begins quest for sectional title with victory over Nutley in North 2, Group 3

After breaking his leg playing soccer over the summer, Adam Elsayed knew he would miss most or all of the regular season with Colonia.
So he kept his fingers crossed that the Patriots would qualify for the state tournament with the hope that he would be able to finish out his senior season with his teammates.
Elsayed actually made it back for Colonia‘s final regular-season game against Old Bridge on Oct. 30, but it was Tuesday’s North 1, Group 3 first-round matchup against Nutley that was special.
Elsayed, a four-year player who finished with three goals and five assists last year, scored his first goal of the season in the 71st minute as sixth-seeded Colonia advanced to the quarterfinals with a 4-1 victory over 11th-seeded Nutley.
“I‘m very proud of the fact that he battled his way back,” Colonia coach Thomas Joraski said. “He’s done a lot of physical therapy and came back and his goal was always to play and finish up his senior season. To be able to play in states and to get a goal was even that much sweeter for him in his second game back.”
Elsayed admitted he’s not at 100 percent full strength, but getting back on the field at some point during the season was the main focus.
“It feels good obviously. It‘s not the same as I used to be, it‘s baby steps, still getting back into it, but I’m just happy to get a goal today,” he said. “It means a lot, that was the goal since the beginning. I knew I wasn’t going to be there for the start of the season, but I just worked towards playing for states and I got some minutes.”
Elsayed’s goal was the fourth of the day for Colonia, which also got two goals from Cristian Alvarez and a goal from Kosi Okonkwo, who kicked off the scoring in the 11th minute on an assist from Alvarez.
“Obviously we want to win,” Alvarez said. “We battled a little bit through games this year that we think we should have won, but I‘m proud of our effort. We all came out with the same intensity, on the same page and I’m glad we came out with the W.”
Nutley, which finishes the season at 7-13 and 3-2 in the Super Essex Conference Colonial Division, made it 4-1 in the 72nd minute when Sammy Buzariushvili scored his fifth goal of the season.
“We knew they played against good teams, and we knew we just had to play our best to get the job done,” Elsayed said.
Colonia will now face the winner of third-seeded Cranford and 13th-seeded Carteret in the quarterfinals as the Patriots eye a return to the sectional final.
Last year, Colonia was the No. 1 seed in the section and advanced to its first sectional final in program history, only to fall to second-seeded Summit 1-0.
“It‘s been haunting us for a year now. I think every workout, every practice we come with that same intensity of wanting to come back,” Alvarez said. “That‘s our goal, we’re not afraid to say it, we want to be back in the sectional final and win it this year.”
The Patriots lost 10 seniors from last year’s team, but returned a host of players that lived through that heartbreak and have vowed to do whatever it takes to make it back.
If Colonia can get through to the semifinals, there’s a chance it could face seventh-seeded Chatham, a team it defeated 2-1 last year, which would set up a potential rematch with top-seeded Summit in the final.
“I think losing in the sectional final last season, that gives a lot of the returning players that fire that we didn’t really have last season to win that final,” Elsayed said.
Lauren Knego may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her at @laurenknego
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