Thursday, September 27, 2007

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Junior Kelly Conheeney (right) cracked one from 25 yards out to get Ridgewood even and the Maroons added two goals late to grab a 4-2 win at Paramus Catholic on Wednesday.

PARAMUS -- One of the last instructions that Ridgewood girls soccer coach Jeff Yearing gave his team at halftime of a tie game on Wednesday had to do with defense. He implored his team to possess the ball in order to keep it away from the dangerous Paramus Catholic attack and create chances for itself. About eight minutes later, Ridgewood found itself behind by a goal.

Paramus Catholic’s Molly Stuart drew a foul just inside the midfield stripe and along the right sideline. She took the restart herself, flew the crowd assembled at the 18-yard line and found the foot of Kristy Shedlock, who knocked home her second goal of the game to give the Lady Paladins a second half lead.

“It was a wakeup call, no doubt about that,” said Yearing. “We are a very good soccer team when we put our minds to it, when we focus and when we stay within the philosophy of what we are trying to do. I think that goal brought us back to understanding that we had to control our own destiny out there.”

Senior Kristy Shedlock scored both PC goals, the second of which gave the Paladins a 2-1 lead eight minutes into the second half.

It was Kelly Conheeney that took control off a feed in the middle of the field about 25 yards from goal and the junior turned, found herself with some space and cracked a right-footed shot into the upper shelf on the left to tie the game at 2. Samantha Cermack then scored twice in a four minute span for Ridgewood, which survived a scare in a 4-2 win that ups it mark on the season to 5-2-1.

“I saw an opening and I shot for it and I needed to do that because we needed to tie the game,” said Conheeney. “There was no way that we could lose this game. Paramus Catholic is good and they played hard, but we had to come out of here with a win and we really had to pick up our game in the second half.”

And it was the cooperation between Cermack, Conheeney and Casey Reilly, a sophomore and two juniors that turned the tide in the Maroons favor for good.

“We were talking, working together, playing to feet more and telling each other where we wanted the ball,” said Cermack, speaking of the difference between the Maroons’ play in the first half and the charge they made toward the win in the final 20 minutes. “We were supposed to do combos with Kelly and Casey and we were finding the combinations and playing the ball through.”

Samantha Cermack scored twice within a three minute span to take Ridgewood from even to a 4-2 win.

Playing the ball through is how PC tied the game in the first half and took the lead in the second. Both Shedlock and Stuart are seniors, both are four-year starters and they work well together in coordinated runs. While Ridgewood controlled a vast amount of the possession, the Paladins were dangerous even still because of their ability to put together the quick and precise counter.

After another of Ridgewood’s talented underclassmen, sophomore Paige Pearson, put the Maroons on the board first in the 12th minute by finishing through traffic in front, the Paladins showed how dangerous they could be with limited touches.

A turnover at midfield bounced onto the foot of Stuart at midfield and she immediately played the ball to Shedlock on the diagonal and at the top of the box. Shedlock pulled the ball back to let the last defender ride by her, the cracked one into the upper shelf to tie the game 26 minutes in.

And when the same duo hooked up again after halftime, the Paladins were ahead.

Molly Stuart, a four-year starter, assisted on both of PC's goals.

“They are two of the better players in Bergen County. Kristy and Molly have been varsity players now, this is their fourth year. They are our only two senior that have been playing up all four years and they are dangerous,” said PC head coach Bill McPartland. “Kristy has a nose for the goal, Molly’s got four or five goals this year and she is wonderful in sending crosses.”

But on a hot day and with a few non-serious, but energy-sapping injuries popping up for PC in the final 15 minutes, and with Ridgewood having the advantage in depth to begin with, the Maroons hit the gas down the stretch and pulled away.

Cermack’s two goals within three minutes of each other gave Ridgewood the last three tallies of the game. The first came off a corner kick struck by Taylor Wrede that made its way to the second post where Cermack won the race, and the second was set up when Conheeney was fouled 30 yards from goal and took her own restart quickly.

Conheeney sent a long serve on the diagonal to Cermack, who was making a run up the right. Cermack beat the last defender, turned the corner and scored from a bad angle to make it 4-2 and put the game on ice.

Ridgewood's Taylor Wrede hit the corner kick that turned into the game-winning goal.

“We had a tough go [in a loss] at Montclair, but we played a spectacular second half in that game and that is what we reminded the girls of today,” said Yearing. “We have shown at times the kind of soccer that we are capable of playing and we just have to remain consistent. That is our goal, to continue to play at a high level.”

Paramus Catholic fell to 3-4 with the loss, but, in the midst of a busy week, the Paladins are still in solid position for state and county tournament berths. Although it is taking nothing for granted, PC has winnable games against Bergen Tech and Eastside coming up on Friday and Saturday and five games total before the Bergen County Tournament cutoff on October 5.

Three wins would put the Paladins in the tournament and four might give them a Top 10 seed.

“We played Clifton on Monday [a 3-1 loss] and followed that up today against a good Ridgewood team,” said McPartland. “But we feel like we can be dangerous in a tournament setting and with a good week we’ll get a chance to do that.”

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