Tuesday, September 22, 2009

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Monique Plescia scored just before and just after halftime as Old Tappan knocked off NBIL newcomer Holy Angels, 3-1.

DEMAREST -- It's the luxury of having a true goal scorer, a player who just needs a small opening to change the scoreboard. The Old Tappan girls soccer team has one and Monique Plescia turned what had been an uneven first 37 for the Golden Knights into a half that would look good in the box score. Plescia found a seem between two defenders near midfield, took two dribbles to get within range, then rifled a shot just inside the near post and midway up the goal to put her team in front at the intermission, just where it wanted to be on the road against NBIL newcomer Holy Angels.

After giving her team and after quick drink at halftime, Plescia gave her team some breathing room. She scored less then one minute into the second half to give her team some separation on the way to a 3-1 win, the Knights third in four games so far this season.

“We are fortunate to have a kid that can score. It’s the hardest thing to find in high school soccer and scoring goals is the hardest thing to do in this league We didn’t play great in the first half, but we still had a lead,” said Tom Quinn, who is in his 15th season as Old Tappan’s head coach. “I thought Holy Angels played well, especially defensively. They were working hard, they are well-coached, so it was nice to get that [goal] in before halftime.”

Lily McLaughlin scored Holy Angels' lone goal in the 45th minute.

Old Tappan was playing on an unfamiliar surface against and unfamiliar league opponent that is defense first in its approach. All of those factors may have helped create the conditions for Old Tappan’s sluggish start, but Plescia’s goal changed all of that.

“We are not really used to their style of play. All of their players were back rather than trying to score,” said Plescia, a senior striker. “It took a while for us to get used to that and find out where we should attack.”

Plescia is a known commodity on the varsity level, but she is not the Knights’ lone option, not does Quinn want her to be. Freshman Emily Maccaro had three goals through the first three games of the season and she added another just two minutes into the second half to back up Plescia and basically put the game away. Maccaro’s early season contributions and a conscience effort to spread the offense around have led to Old Tappan’s strong start to the season.

“A lot of times she [Plescia] will have two or three defenders on her, but we try to avoid that as much as we can,” said Giana Abballe, OT’s steady senior midfielder. “Our last game Monique played center-mid and I pushed up to try to give her some space so she can have some opportunities to score.”

Old Tappan freshman Emily Maccaro scored her fourth goal of the season early in the second half.

Opportunities to score have been tough to come by for Holy Angels so far this season, The NBIL will no longer exist in its current for after this school year as it gets drawn into the wider realignment of the NJSIAA, but the Angels are getting the full taste of it grueling girls soccer schedule in its one-year pit stop. AHA dodged a bullet when its opener against defending Group 3 state champion Ramapo was rained out, but the Angels then ran headlong into Northern Highlands, probably Bergen County’s best public school team through the early season, and then a much improved Demarest side before hosting Old Tappan on Monday.

The Angels (0-3) have yet to be outclassed, but with a young side and a new head coach, the transition has proved bumpy at best.

“So far we have been able to stay in games against some really tough teams, more established teams. We played [Northern] Highlands already and that was probably the best game we have played so far. We held them off for three quarters of the game,” said Erwin Lara, a successful club coach who is in his first season in charge of a high school program. “We are a very young team and this is a work in progress. It’s not like other teams are coming out against us and having an easy go, but we have a lot of growing to do as a team and as a program.”

Holy Angels is playing in its first and only season as a member of the NBIL.

Holy Angels was no walk over against Old Tappan and had two legitimate chances to take the lead early. Lily McLaughlin ran onto to a misplayed clearance attempt and put a shot on target only to see it kicked away by Old Tappan keeper Emily Russell in the eighth minute. Russell was also perfectly positioned to pull down a shot off a volleyed header that floated into the crease.

But Old Tappan’s defense stiffened after that as Brianna and Nicole Katzman, Christina Scilingo, Nicole Park and other all played well in the back for the Golden Knights. The lone goal the Knights allowed came off a corner kick that bounced around in the box before being nudged by McLaughlin in the 45th minute for Holy Angels’ first goal of the season.

But it wasn’t enough to stop Old Tappan from improving to 3-1 on the season and the Knights, who will get to measure themselves against what should be a Ramapo team back at full strength on Thursday. No matter what happens there, the Knights are already into the Bergen County Tournament as they can be no worse than .500 before the cutoff.

Brianna Katzman and the Old Tappan defense were solid throughout.

“There have been a couple of years were we have had a win, a couple of losses and ties where we were really pressed to qualify [for the county tournament], so to be 3-1 at this point allows us to focus other things,” said Quinn. “We know that Ramapo is going to be ready to go. They are coming to our place and it is going to be exciting. We are playing well, we are pretty much healthy and we will be able to give it our best shot.”

Although not year officially eliminated from county tournament contention, it is going to be an uphill climb if Holy Angels is to be included. But growth of the program no matter what form it takes is what is important to Lara at this point.

“It is a transition for all of us, me and the team,” said Lara. “We are teaching things differently than has been done here in the past and we are learning together. It will take time, but we will get it. Our message is simple: We will play with the ball on the ground. When we start doing that more we will be going in the right direction.”

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