Monday, October 15, 2007

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

On Sunday in the Round of 16, it was the Highlanders who were the high seed and Hasbrouck Heights/Wood-Ridge that was looking to score the biggest upset in an already upset-laden tournament.

Led by Leah Taylor and Katrina Battle, the Highlanders struck quickly and never let Heights into the game. Battle headed in Taylor’s cross early in the first half and the second-seeded Highlanders added two more goals in the second half to cruise to a 3-0 victory over the Aviators, the No. 15 seed.

“We wanted to start strong and it really helped us that we scored first,” said Taylor. “We had confidence coming into the game and scoring quickly gave us even more confidence. I think it just carried through the rest of the game.”

Taylor carried the ball into the corner and crossed it through the middle of the box. At 5-11, Battle was the tallest player on the field and she used her height and her head too knock one past Hasbrouck Heights goaltender Rosa Holowen to make it 1-0.

Holowen is usually the Aviators’ best offensive weapon, but their standout goalkeeper Angela Christofolo was unavailable. Christofolo was injured in Heights’ first round win over Teaneck on Friday and head coach Ollie Pimm’s only move was to put his best athlete, Holowen, between the pipes. Unfortunately, Holowen’s absence from the field of play really hurt Heights’ offense.

“I wasn’t going to risk playing Angela, and Rosa was the most logical fit back there,” said Pimm. “For someone who isn’t a goalie to play there against a team like Northern Highlands, Rosa did a fantastic job. We were hoping to stay in the game for 70 minutes and then try to move her up and see if we could steal one. But we made too many little mistakes and were only able to hang on for about 50 minutes. When you make mistakes on this level, you’re in trouble.”

Holowen made several great saves to keep it a one-goal game into the second half. The Highlanders kept pummeling the net with shots and broke through in the 53rd minute. Taylor beat a defender along the end line and chipped a cross into the box. Emma Reich struck a perfect volley off of a short hop. The ball hit the crossbar and bounced straight down beyond the goal line to make it 2-0.

Minutes later, Ashley Lopes fed Alex Hubelbank, who one-timed a blast into the back of the net for the final margin.

Holowen performed a soccer rarity for Hasbrouck Heights/Wood-Ridge (11-3). The senior finished with 10 saves in net and three shots in her limited time offensively.

Northern Highlands (8-1-2) held a big margin in both shots (21-6), and corner kicks (7-0) and Caroline Broder made four saves to earn the shutout. The Highlanders will take on 10th seeded Ridgewood, a 2-0 winner over Pascack Hills, the No. 7 seed, next Sunday in the Bergen County quarterfinals.

“In this game, and really in every game during this tournament, we’re not going to worry about seeds,” said Northern Highlands head coach Tara Madigan, who is still with her best offensive weapon, the injured Danielle Schulmann. “We know not to take anything for granted, because it has been shown over the years in the counties that any team can win on any given day.”

“I thought it was a nice sign for us today that we had three different players score. But we know that the further we go, the tougher the competition is going to become. We’re just going to take it one game at a time and try to keep improving in getting ready for whoever we play next week in the quarterfinals.”

ELSEWHERE IN THE COUNTY TOURNAMENT:
After a first round that saw two teams from the small school BCSL-Olympic Division upset two teams from the powerful NBIL, the tournament returned to form on Sunday as all but one of the higher seeds advancing to quarterfinals. The lone exception was No. 11 Mahwah’s 4-1 win over No. 6 Glen Rock, but the T-Birds’ win could not exactly be classified as an upset as they are a battle tested NBIL team.

Top-seeded IHA and No. 4 Ramapo scored a combined 15 goals to advance to next weekend’s quarterfinals. IHA posted an 8-0 win over Waldwick and the Green Raiders took out Midland Park, 7-0. Ramapo’s win sets up an interesting quarterfinal clash as up next is No. 5 Pascack Valley, which knocked off No. 12 Paramus, 6-0, is the defending champion and won its title last year by beating Ramapo in the final.

Of the top seeds, River Dell got the stiffest challenge on Sunday as it needed a goal from Trish Berkanish in the second half to end the Cinderella run of Park Ridge, which came into the tournament as the No. 19 seed and knocked off Old Tappan in the first round before giving the Golden Hawks all they could handle.

River Dell’s win means that two BCSL-American Division teams will appear in the quarterfinals as Rutherford posted a 4-1 win over New Milford. Rutherford’s reward is a matchup against No. 1 IHA next Sunday at Indian Hills.

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