PHOTOS: Warriors fall to Pitman in spirited opener

Posted: September 6th 2024

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

WILDWOOD – For the past couple of seasons, the Wildwood High School boys soccer team has fallen just short in its quest to win the Tri-County Conference Classic Division title, losing out to Pitman both times.

The Warriors got to see their rival right away in 2024, hosting Pitman for their season opener Thursday.

This time, however, the contest was not a division game as Pitman has moved up to the TCC Diamond Division. That didn’t change the tenor of the game, though, as both teams battled in an extremely close contest that went Pitman’s way, 2-1.

Wildwood enjoyed more of the possession in the contest and struck first on Noureddine “Nunu” Bedderi’s goal early in the game. Tyler Brown assisted. But Pitman’s Trevor Leach canceled out the opener by converting a penalty kick after a Warrior hand ball in the penalty area late in the first half. Leach later got the winner against the run of play midway through the second half when a through ball out of the midfield sliced open the Wildwood defense and sent the Pitman striker in alone down the right flank.

Wildwood later generated some chances off corner kicks and some long throw-ins into the box, but never truly threatened at goal. The team’s best chance came when Bedderi missed the left post by about two yards on a header off a corner kick.

“Pitman’s always going to come out and be super physical,” Wildwood coach Sal Zampirri said. “They’re a talented team. They can knock the ball around, they run through everything and they put in good tackles. We knew that coming into today. They really just beat us in the 50-50 battle.

“I wasn’t completely displeased with our effort but we can see a lot of room for improvement. We still have our sights set high.”

Wildwood is right back on the field Friday for its first Classic Division game against Pennsville.