Monday, October 13, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

ENGLEWOOD – Throughout this decade, Northern Valley/Demarest has been on both ends of wild games in the Bergen County Tournament. This has been especially true when the Norsewomen have been the higher seed. Heading into this year’s tournament as the third seed out of the eight teams, Northern Valley/Demarest head coach Jessica Alcorta stressed that the first game is the always the toughest.

Although they were playing a River Dell team they had already beaten during the regular season, Alcorta had been through enough battles in this tournament as both a player and a coach to know how important it is to get on the scoreboard early in each half.

The Norsewomen followed their coach’s orders to the letter. Tess Ohman scored just over six minutes into the first half and Jessica Cooper scored just over six minutes into the second, as Demarest advanced with a 2-0 win over sixth-seeded River Dell in a Bergen County quarterfinal game at Dwight-Englewood High School.

“The key to this tournament is to score early and start fast,” said Alcorta, who starred at Northern Valley/Demarest before going on to play at Boston University. “When you score quickly, you have a cushion to play with and you can play more relaxed knowing that you have a lead.”

Right from the opening whistle, Demarest came out on fire and never let up. They quickly forged ahead when a long ball by Schuyler Watkins found Ohman all alone at the far post. Erin Reilly saved the point-blank shot, but Ohman tucked home the rebound to give the Norsewomen the lead just 6:14 into the contest.

“We started off flat and they took advantage of it,” said River Dell head coach Jessica Rickershauser. “We’re young and we play like an inexperienced team at times, but I think we played well defensively after giving up that first goal. For now, we’re young and we have to take our lumps. But we’re learning lessons as we go and I think we’ll be a team to watch in the next few years.”

River Dell’s defense hung tough and stayed in the match by playing tough defense on the Norsewomen’s short corners. They allowed 10 corners in the first half, but gave up just one shot off them.

Demarest kept the pressure on to start the second half and scored again on a second-chance opportunity. This time, it was Cooper who knocked it home with 23:39 remaining for the final margin.

Demarest (6-3-1) had a big edge in both shots (13-1) and corners (14-1). Reilly made 11 saves for River Dell (1-8-1). With the win, the Norsewomen move into next Sunday’s Bergen County semifinals where they will face second-seeded Ramsey, a 3-0 winner over Westwood yesterday, for a berth in the county final. Demarest beat Ramsey last week in a regular season meeting.

“We know never to underestimate another team, especially in the county tournament,” added Alcorta. “We came out with determination and a lot of fire. When you do that and you execute, you usually get the job done and that’s what we did today.”

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