Thursday, April 24, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

WAYNE – Wayne Hills’ Erica Kunzig has already solidified herself as one of North Jersey’s top offensive weapons in girls lacrosse. As she has gone, the Patriots have followed, all the way to a 5-1 start. But the one blemish on Wayne Hills’ record came in its last game, a loss to Ramapo.

Facing an equally talented Northern Highlands squad on Wednesday, the Patriots needed more than the play of Kunzig to earn a victory; they also needed a balanced offensive attack and a solid defensive effort. The Patriots got just that and then some to get back to their winning ways.

Kunzig and Aly Salviano scored six seconds apart late in the first half to break a tie game. This started a 9-1 run by Wayne Hills that helped it cruise to a 15-8 victory.

“We had a lot of trouble getting ground balls and draw controls and that hurt us,” said Northern Highlands head coach Tracy Costello. “When you face a good team like Wayne Hills, you have to do the little things to win. Wayne Hills was the better team today. We just hope to use this as a learning experience for the future.”

Northern Highlands opened the scoring when Allison Gitto found a cutting Evan O’Neill for a goal. The Patriots came right back and scored four straight goals, two by Kunzig, to grab a 4-1 lead. Wayne Hills appeared to be in control but a couple of defensive miscues allowed the Highlanders to knot the score.

O’Neill stole a pass from Wayne Hills keeper Ashley Opirhory and scored. Within the next two minutes, she added another goal and Meredith Savatsky followed with a coast-to-coast run for a goal to tie the game at 4-4. The spurt by the Highlanders woke up the back line of Wayne Hills.

“We couldn’t give them any room to breath,” said Wayne Hills Sabrina Heskins. “They had a couple of good players up front. Our defense had to step up and shut them down.”

After a Kunzig goal gave the Patriots the lead, they won the ensuing faceoff. Salviano scooped up the loose ball and raced the distance for a goal. Jess Ivkov scored with nine seconds left in the half off of a nice feed from Isabelle Kayal, putting Wayne Hills ahead 7-4 at the break.

After trading goals, Wayne Hills ripped off five straight to put the game away. Taylor Tremonte scored twice and Stevie Klie’s only goal of the game capped the run, giving the Patriots a 13-5 lead.

“Basically we’re a tough team to stop when everyone gets going,” said Kunzig, a senior. “I was getting double-teamed a lot. I like that though because that means someone was open. This has been the best Wayne Hills team I’ve been on and we’re all working really well together.”

Opirhory had her best game of the season thus far with 16 saves for Wayne Hills (6-1). Heskins and Brigitte Greenwald anchored a strong defensive effort. Kunzig added a season-high five assists with her four goals. Ivkov added four assists and three goals.

Christina Holmes had 17 saves for Northern Highlands (6-2). O’Neill led all players with five goals. Savatsky, Aubrey Rubino and Kristin Heaney each added a goal and an assist.

Wayne Hills head coach Marie Tripp was pleased with how her team bounced back after suffering its first loss of the season to Ramapo last Friday.

“After losing to Ramapo, we showed a lot of heart and we played really well,” said Tripp. “We had a big lead against Ramapo and let it slip away. Northern Highlands tied the game in the first half, but this time we responded.

"I can’t say one person played better than another today and I’m extremely pleased with our effort. We beat a good Northern Highlands team and it was a total team effort.”

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