There's no such thing as a bad golden goal.
But some are better than others.
And if you play for Cherry Hill East, the best golden goal of all is one that beats Cherry Hill West.
"It's the greatest feeling," said Gary Lindgren, whose overtime goal Monday period lifted Cherry Hill East to a 2-1 victory over Cherry Hill West in a crosstown boys' soccer clash. "Everybody comes running out, and you end up at the bottom of the dog pile."
Lindgren, a senior forward, took a feed from Zach Steinbock, dribbled past a defender, and deposited the winning goal with 1 minute, 58 seconds remaining in the first 10-minute overtime period.
Lindgren's 12th goal of the season helped Cherry Hill East improve to 8-9 with one game to play.
Cherry Hill West, which is likely to be the No. 13 seed when the South Jersey Group 4 tournament starts next Tuesday, fell to 10-6-1.
"They came out strong in overtime," Cherry Hill West coach Dan Butler said of Cherry Hill East. "They were forcing us to chase. We were reacting."
The Cougars controlled play in overtime as Lindgren and Tyler Berlinsky had good scoring chances. Late in regulation, Lindgren blasted a shot on net that looked like the game-winner, but Cherry Hill West goalie Sean Mullarkey made a diving save.
"We created a lot of good chances in overtime," Cherry Hill East coach Karl Moehlmann said. "Going by the chances in overtime, I think we deserved to win."
Cherry Hill West got a strong game from senior midfielder Ramadan Bayyan, who created several scoring chances for himself and and his teammates.
"We had a lot of dangerous opportunities," Butler said.
East took a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute on a goal by Adam Cohler off a feed from Jake Russ.
The Lions scored the equalizer in the 54th minute as Ramadan slipped a nice pass to Kevin Viola, who fired a hard, low shot into the far corner of the net.
Lindgren said his score in overtime was the first golden goal of his career.
"It's always a big game when we play them," Lindgren said. "It's great to beat them, especially in overtime."
Cherry Hill East 1 0 1 - 2
Cherry Hill West 0 1 0 - 1
Goals: CHE-Adam Cohler, Gary Lindgren; CHW-Kevin Viola.
Saves: CHE-Ben Wirtshafter, 7; CHW-Sean Mullarkey, 13.
Contact staff writer Phil Anastasia at 856-779-3223, panastasia@phillynews.com, or @PhilAnastasia on Twitter. Read his blog, "Jersey Side Sports," at www.philly.com/jerseysidesports
