Saturday, November 15, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

CRESSKILL – As Waldwick goaltender Jill Neugebauer stepped up to the goal line, a million thoughts could have easily been running through her mind and with good reason. Her team was on the verge of pulling an enormous upset and doing something that noone outside of a Waldwick uniform could have imagined just two weeks ago. After 100 minutes of play and nine rounds of penalty kicks, the North 1, Group 1 state sectional girls soccer final against host Cresskill was still undecided.

But instead of standing there with a cluttered mind, Neugebauer was just mentally consumed by one simplistic thought that replayed itself over and over again.

“I have to get my hands on it and stop that ball any way I can,” said Neugebauer.

She did just that, making her third save of the penalty kick shootout the one that sealed Waldwick’s third straight state tournament upset. The seventh-seeded Warriors won their first section title since 1995 with a thrilling 2-1 (6-5 in penalty kicks) win over top-seeded Cresskill.

“We didn’t have the best regular season, but we’re finishing up strong,” said Waldwick head coach Santiago Salme. “Just to get this far is a big deal for us. I just told the kids to play as hard as you can and good things will happen.”

The first half was largely uneventful as both teams struggled to get any offense going on a grass field that quickly turned into a slick, muddy track. While the slight rain continued to come down and the field conditions only got worse, the game remarkably went from a defensive-minded in the first half to a half chock full of scoring chances for both teams in the second.

It started when Waldwick’s Val Bedrock hit the post on a direct kick less than two minutes into the second stanza. The ball trickled along the goal line before being cleared away. Four minutes later, Cresskill's Nikki Cerone lofted a long shot from midfield that hit the post flush before being smothered up by Neugebauer.

In the 48th minute, the Warriors broke through and got on the scoreboard first. Bedrock’s corner kick curved towards the far post and Renee Schultz was there to head it in for a 1-0 lead. It marked the fourth time in as many state tournament games this season in which Waldwick scored first.

Cresskill freshman Emma Campbell had a pair of scoring chances minutes apart midway through the second half. A header skimmed the top of head right in front of the net and then her apparent goal was disallowed due to an earlier whistle on a foul that was not heard by any of the players. The Cougars kept coming and netted the equalizer with just 14 minutes to play in regulation.

Katherine Pascetta sent a hard ball up the middle of the field that skipped through the Waldwick defense and right in stride to Nikki Hernandez for a breakaway. Neugebauer hesitated for a second before coming out to challenge. Hernandez had enough space to chip it over her head and into the net to knot the score at 1.

“It was a play where I should have come out earlier and I could have made that save,” said Neugebauer about the game-tying goal. “That was when I realized I had to make up for it somehow and make sure we won this game.”

That was the last goal until the penalty kick shootout, but there were several close calls with Waldwick nearly scoring the game-winner twice in the second overtime. Bedrock once again hit the framework and Delaware-bound Mimi Kocela had her 15-yard shot turned away on a diving save from Cresskill keeper Patricia Clark as the teams needed PK’s to decide the North 1 Group 1 section champion.

“I didn’t say anything to them other to tell each of them that I believe in them and they needed to believe in themselves,” added Salme. “If they believed in themselves, then at least they would make any mistakes because they were nervous. We weren’t even supposed to get this far, so we really had nothing to lose.”

After players from both teams scored on their first kick and hit the crossbar on their second attempt, Clark came up with a save to give Cresskill the advantage. When the Cougars’ fourth kicker, Elizabeth Pascetta, scored to make it 3-1, the Cresskill players started to rush the field before quickly realizing that it was not over just yet. Waldwick still had one last hope. The Warriors had to make both of their kicks and Cresskill could not score on its last attempt.

Schultz scored on her kick and Neugebauer came up with a save to keep Waldwick’s season alive temporarily. Jess Andre then converted her penalty kick to send it to sudden-death.

After goals on each team’s first kick, both Neugebauer and Clark made saves. Both teams scored on their next two kicks, the last of which coming by Elizabeth Pascetta, whose shot clanked off the post and rolled in. Waldwick’s Meredith Dickinson scored on her shot to set the stage for Neugebauer’s heroics.

“I saw the ball leave her foot and I just went for it,” added Neugebauer. “When I saw my whole team rushing towards me, it was incredible because I knew we had done it.”

Neugebauer leaped to her right and punched away a shot headed towards the upper left-hand corner to give Waldwick its third straight upset and its first section crown in 13 years. To win the section, Waldwick knocked off the top three seeds on the road (No. 2 seed Emerson, No. 3 seed Kinnelon, and No. 1 seed Cresskill).

The loss was a tough one for Cresskill, which did not lose a game in regulation all season. The Cougars’ only losses this year were to Paramus Catholic in the Bergen County Tournament and yesterday, both in penalty kicks, finishing with a 19-2-1 record.

“This is tough and I feel the pain my girls are feeling,” said Cresskill head coach John Massaro. “To come back from a goal down and tie the game was huge, but we had a tough time building on that momentum. You never want to see a game come down to penalty kicks because anything can happen. But both teams have to do it and you have to deal with that. Someone has to win and someone has to lose even if neither team deserves to lose.”

Neugebauer had 13 saves for Waldwick (14-7) and Clark had 19 for Cresskill. The Warriors will look to keep their upset-laden run going when they face another top seed on Tuesday. They will take on North 2 Group 1 champion New Providence, a 2-0 winner over Glen Ridge yesterday. That game will be played on Tuesday at Ridge High School in Basking Ridge with a 5:00 start time.

But for now, the Waldwick players are just enjoying the thought of going to practice tomorrow with the opportunity to play another day.

“At the beginning of the season, we were just hoping to get to the states and maybe make a nice run,” said Waldwick’s Jenn Ott, who anchored the defense from the sweeper position and scored two goals in the penalty-kick shootout round. “Nobody expected us to get this far, and before the states, I’m not even sure we did ourselves. But we got a lot of confidence after our win in the first round and we knew we had nothing to lose after that. We’ve had our ups and downs this season and we didn’t know what was going to happen in the state tournament. But to go from where we were to where we are now is honestly like a dream come true.”

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