Sunday, November 23, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

EWING – Out of all the teams that played for a state title over the last four days in either boys’ or girls’ soccer, none had a more unlikely run to the championship game than Waldwick. By the way of the seeds in North 1, Group 1, it was not even supposed to get through the second round.

The Warriors refused to accept that fate. They went out on the road and knocked off one quality team after another. After an overtime win, a thrilling win over Group 1 favorite Kinnelon, and two straight penalty-kick shootout victories over top seeds in their respective sections, the Warriors were doing the unthinkable on Saturday, playing for the outright Group 1 state title.

There was no reason to think that Robbinsville would pose more of a threat than any of Waldwick’s previous four opponents. This time though there would be no miraculous ending, as the Warriors were finally forced to watch another team celebrate when the final whistle was blown.

Laura Greb scored late in the first half and tallied another late in the second half to put an end to Waldwick’s run and give Robbinsville its first state title in any sport by handing the Warriors a 3-0 defeat at The College of New Jersey.

“We’re blessed with the run we had just to get here,” said Waldwick head coach Santiago Salme. “Just to be up here with some of the best teams in the state shows how hard we worked to get to this point. Today, we just didn’t have enough to get past (Robbinsville).”

The Ravens dominated play right from the outset with their tremendous speed all over the field. Just in the first 15 minutes of the match, the Warriors had to dodge three bullets. Greb hit the post, Waldwick stopper Jess Leonard had to clear a ball off the goal line, and Kari Nickels’ shot was tipped just wide by Waldwick keeper Jill Neugebauer.

In the 23rd minute, Waldwick had by far its best scoring opportunity of the match. Delaware-bound Mimi Kocela collected the ball 25 yards from goal in the middle of the field before cutting back to her right to beat a defender. Her right-footed shot hit off the crossbar and was cleared away. Waldwick was hoping to make it to halftime without giving up a goal but Greb had other ideas.

With just over five minutes to play in the first half, the senior took a free kick from 40 yards out with the wind at her back. It was well-struck and floated just over the outstretched hands of Neugebauer and under the crossbar to put the Ravens ahead, 1-0, heading into the second half.

“That was the biggest goal we had from anyone all year,” said Robbinsville head coach Karen DeRossett. “We felt we were more technically skilled than Waldwick was, but there were other teams in the state tournament who may have felt the same way and Waldwick knocked them all off, so we knew that team had something pretty special about them that they were able to win all of those games. We felt we could have been in trouble with the wind in the second half if there was no score. Getting that first goal before halftime gave us a lot more confidence going into the second half.”

Waldwick had the wind on its side for the second half, but it did not matter with the way the Ravens were playing. They kept the ball on the ground and set the tone with two quality scoring chances in the first 90 seconds of the second half. Neugebauer made two tough saves, but the Warriors were only able to hold on for so long.

Just seconds past the midway point of the second half, Carina Fleming took a pass from Gavy Kaplan at the top of the box. With a defender on her back, Fleming quickly turned to create some space, then fired a shot just inside the left post for a 2-0 lead.

Greb capped the scoring with 5:14 remaining. After a long run by Robbinsville’s Amanda Douglas, who was outstanding defensively, Greb ran onto a through ball for a breakaway. Her shot beat Neugebauer and rolled in for the final margin of victory.

“Give Robbinsville credit, they played great and scored some great goals,” said Waldwick’s Meredith Dickinson. “We fought hard and played the best that we could. We obviously would have loved to win this game, but it’s still amazing just to get this far.”

Mary Jane Seiler needed to make just four saves to record her fourth shutout in as many state tournament games for Robbinsville (17-4), which held a 21-6 advantage in shots and 7-0 in corner kicks. The Ravens outscored their four state tournament opponents by a combined 15-0.

Neugebauer had an outstanding state tournament for Waldwick (15-8), which included nine saves yesterday. The Warriors embarked on their deepest run ever in the state tournament this season with their first-ever state final berth. With just three starters and five seniors graduating from this year’s roster, the future looks bright for Waldwick and the current senior class will have memories that will last a lifetime.

“Winning a sectional title made all of the hard work put into my senior year worthwhile,” said Waldwick’s Mimi Kocela. “It’s the first time a Waldwick team has ever been this far and we’ve had some good teams. That shows what an accomplishment it was for us to get as far as we did. Even with a loss, we had a good run and we can take that with us forever.”

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