Monday, November 2, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Northern Highlands celebrates Kristin Heaney's goal, the only one of the game, as the Highlands won their second straight Bergen County title with a 1-0 win over Ramsey on Sunday.

OLD TAPPAN – As the top offensive threat on the top field hockey team in Bergen County, Kristin Kristin Heaney could have gotten caught up in her own stats. She could have had a number in mind as to how many goals she might want to score or assists she wanted to hand to leave her own legacy on the Northern Highlands program. But Heaney came into her final season with only team goals in mind, the most important of those was repeating as Bergen County champion.

With a tough Ramsey defense designed specifically to stop her, Heaney knew her best (and maybe her only) scoring chances in Saturday’s Bergen County Final were going to come on corners. On the first corner of the game for the Highlanders, the Lafayette-bound senior picked an opportune time to score the biggest of the many goals in her career.

Off of a perfect feed from Ainslee Thompson, Heaney’s blast from the top of the circle glanced off a Ramsey defender’s leg and into the back of the cage. The Northern Highlands’ defense did the rest as the Highlanders held on for a 1-0 victory and their second straight Bergen County title at Northern Valley/Old Tappan High School.

Michelle Pillepich and Ramsey kept the pressure on with 10 first half corners.

“Ainslee (Thompson) gave me a great insert and the shot went pretty much where I was aiming for,” said Heaney. “I got a lane where I could get the shot off and it went in. We didn’t want to play from behind so it’s good that we scored first. Ramsey is our biggest rival and they were going to keep coming at us. It’s nice to get a lead and rely on our defense.”

The teams split their regular-season meetings with one-goal victories with this being the rubber match, Northern Highlands took control on its first corner. Thompson sent a hard pass along the ground to Heaney, who stopped the ball, then ripped a shot that got a piece of a Ramsey defender and slipped inside the left post for a 1-0 lead.

“We had to come out strong because Ramsey was going to give us all we could handle,” said Thompson, also a senior. “With the way Ramsey plays defense, it was really important to score first and score early. Whoever came out the hardest and scored the first goal was going to win this game. Our defense was awesome and they made some key plays for us. Our season was all about keeping this trophy and I’m so glad we did it.”

Midway through the first half, the momentum changed hands and it was Ramsey that was on the attack. The Rams had 10 corners in the first half, eight of those over the final 14 minutes, but they only got three shots on net over that span and the Highlanders clung to their one-goal lead.

Ainslee Thompson's early corner led to the only goal Highlands needed.

“That was our chance and we just couldn’t put one in,” said Ramsey head coach Rebecca Fantry. “If were able to tie the game, it would have been a totally different game over all. You knew it was going to be this kind of a game with both teams giving in their all. It’s tough for us right now because both teams played a great game, they just scored early and held onto that lead the whole way.”

The Rams kept the pressure on early in the second half, but could not net the tying goal. That was in large part to the play of the Highlands defense. Led by goaltender Lee Carluccio and sweeper Kayleigh Kobovitch, they were able to keep Ramsey at bay until the midfield stepped up and the Highlanders took control of the possession game.

Ramsey had its last chances with over three minutes to play on shots by Tara Welch and Rita Kennedy. Both were saved by Carluccio and Laura Dombroski was there to clear the ball away. As the final whistle sounded, the Highlanders erupted in celebration just as they did a year earlier.

Highlands goaltender Lee Carluccio came up with her second straight comeback.

“This win was a total team effort and we found a way to win,” said Northern Highlands head coach Rich Smith. “Our defense usually doesn’t get as much work as we got today, but they really came up big late in the first half and early in the second. We survived the wave and (Carluccio) had a lot to do with that. Everyone rose to the occasion and we began to establish an attack again to take the pressure off of our defense late in the game.”

Carluccio notched her second shutout in a row with a fantastic outing for Northern Highlands (13-7). She notched eight saves and all of them were big ones for the Highlanders. Heaney’s goal was her North Jersey-leading 32nd of the season and by far the biggest goal of her career.

“This was the biggest goal I’ve ever scored, but it was my teammates who put me in the position to score so they deserve the credit,” said Heaney. “I will put everything else aside as we all did to win a county championship again. I’ve played in some big games, but I don’t know if I’ve played in any bigger than this one. To go out in my senior year as a county champion is something all of the seniors on this team will cherish forever.”

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