Verona senior captain Torsten Kolind broke up a scoreless tie with his goal four minutes into the second half of Wednesday night’s victory over Butler in the first round of the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 1 boys soccer playoffs. Kolind converted a crossing pass from senior Connor Waldron to put the Hillbillies (16-1) on top of a defensive-minded Bulldogs team. The game was played at Millburn High School.
A few minutes later, senior Dominick Gagliano scored a left-footed goal from near the top of the box, and junior outside defender Alec Puerari closed out the scoring with his long run through the Butler defense for an unassisted goal late in the match. Butler, the No. 16 seed in the tournament, is 1-16-2 after the loss.
With the victory, Verona advances to the quarterfinal round, where the No. 1 seeded Hillbillies will take on eighth-seeded Pompton Lakes (12-5-1) at 4:15 p.m. Friday at Centennial Field.
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