Saturday,
September 22, 2007
By
Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
NEW BRUNSWICK –
Kearny and Northern Highlands have established themselves over
the past several years as two of the state’s most successful
girls’ soccer programs. They met for the first time a year
ago and battled to a 1-1 tie and on Saturday in the encore, the
two teams locked horns once again. While there great high school
players all over the field, there was one who stood out above
the rest.
Since she first stepped
on the varsity pitch as a freshman in 2004, Danielle Schulmann
has been one of the state’s top strikers. Now a senior,
she has taken more of a leadership role and with her team clearly
reeling after Kearny tied the score with a late goal in regulation,
it appeared that the two teams would finish deadlocked once again.
With time winding down in the second overtime, put her team on
her back and led it to victory.
Schulmann scored all
four of the Highlanders goals, including one four minutes into
the second overtime, as she put on a virtuoso performance and
willed Northern Highlands to a thrilling 4-3 victory over previously
unbeaten Kearny at the Class of 1953 field at Rutgers University.
“Northern Highlands
is a very good side and we just had no answers for Schulmann,”
said Kearny head coach Mike Rusek, Sr. “She’s so quick
and so strong with and without the ball. But the key is that she
never stops working. After halftime, we couldn’t do much
to stop her once she got a head of steam.”
The game was a marquee
match-up with each player possessing one of the state’s
top players. Schulmann was the main offensive weapon for the Highlanders,
while Kearny had senior playmaker Stefanee Pace, who will play
at Rutgers next fall.
It did not take long
for Schulmann to help Northern Highlands forge ahead. She drilled
a penalty kick just under the crossbar in the 7th minute to make
it 1-0. A fantastic goal by Pace knotted the score, but it was
not by the Pace the Highlanders were as worried about coming into
the game.
Samantha Pace, Stefanee’s
younger sister, took the ball from 25 yards out with her back
to the goal. She turned, took a dribble, then fired a shot into
the upper right-hand corner of the net to tie the game in the
13th minute.
From that point on,
the Kardinals dominated play for the remainder of the half with
numerous chances to grab the lead. The best of which came midway
through the opening stanza when Stefanee Pace’s lefty blast
hit the crossbar and bounced straight down before being cleared
out. Despite Kearny being in complete control, the score was tied
going into the second half.
Schulmann showed how
dangerous she could be early in the second half when she single-handedly
created two breakaway chances in a 90-second span. The first was
saved by Kearny goaltender Jen Pettigrew, and the second trickled
just wide.
Kearny responded immediately
and took the lead. Off of a long corner kick from Stefanee Pace,
teammate Marie Silva tracked it down in the far corner. Samantha
Pace got open in the box and volleyed in Silva’s cross,
giving the Kardinals a 2-1 lead.
Schulmann and Samantha
Fiorenzo perfected a give-and-go with Schulmann being the beneficiary.
She touched the ball around a charging Pettigrew and tapped it
into an open net to knotted the score at 2.
“I actually thought
that goal was a turning point for us,” said Northern Highlands’
head coach Tara Madigan. “It gave us confidence and we realized
that this is a winnable game if we keep working hard.”
Schulmann pushed the
Highlanders into the lead once again as her header with seven
minutes remaining in regulation made it a 3-2 game before déjà
vu reared its ugly head for the Highlanders.
Just 11 days earlier,
they held a one-goal lead over NBIL rival Ramapo before the Green
Raiders scored with just over two minutes to play. The 78th minute
once again saw the Highlanders lose the lead and the Kardinals
were able to send the game into overtime.
Stefanee Pace’s
cross was knocked around in the box and Janitza Aquino got enough
of a foot on the ball to slide it past Northern Highlands’
goaltender Morgan Cocherl to tie the game at 3.
“We were a bit
frustrated after they tied it again, but we just had to keep playing,”
said Schulmann. “I knew if we kept playing hard that we
would get another chance to put one in. We pride ourselves in
being as fit as we could be so that we can wear teams down. Everyone
stepped up and we found a way to win in the end.”
Kearny carried the
momentum from the Aquino goal into the first overtime where they
got off four shots in the first three minutes of the period. But
that was where fitness came into play and the Highlanders took
over.
“I thought they
were more fit than we were and it showed at times in the second
half and in the second overtime,” added Rusek. “I
can’t say enough about Schulmann, she was just amazing today.
But their entire team as a whole is very well-coached and they
are an extremely fit side.”
In the second overtime,
Schulmann got the ball 35 yards from the net and used her blazing
speed to get past a pair of Kardinal defenders. Pettigrew came
out to try and cut down the angle, but Schulmann blasted one past
her to give Northern Highlands the victory.
“I saw an opening
and just took the shot,” said Schulmann on the game-winning
goal. “Even though this isn’t a league game or anything,
it’s a really big win for us. We knew Kearny was a very
good team and to beat them definitely will give us more confidence
as the season goes on.”
Schulmann tied a career-high
with four goals and Cocherl had nine saves for Northern Highlands
(4-0-1). Samantha Pace scored twice and her sister Stefanee had
two assists for the Kardinals, who held a 20-13 advantage in shots.
Kearny, No. 4 ranked team in the state, fell to 5-1 with the loss.
“Danielle was
phenomenal and she put us on her back when we needed it,”
added Madigan. “She was great on her one-on-ones and she
showed just what she is capable of doing, even against top competition.
I think our fitness definitely played a part in this win. After
tying Kearny last year and the tie against Ramapo last week, it’s
nice to get a win in a hard-fought game like this one.”
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