Friday, November 13, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Nikki Lee's overtime goal gave Mahwah a 1-0 win over Glen Rock and its first ever state sectional championship.

GLEN ROCK – After 80 minutes of scoreless play in the North 1, Group 2 state sectional final, Mahwah chances of winning a section title were slipping away. Although the Thunderbirds had a decisive edge in shots and the better of play, the Thunderbirds had good reason to be fearful because their opponent was Glen Rock, a team that has ridden a stifling defensive to success throughout the state tournament. In its previous two games, Glen Rock held its opponents scoreless through regulation and two overtime periods before scoring upsets over Westwood and top-seeded Kinnelon in penalty kick shootouts.

While nearly everyone at the field expected the game to head in the same direction, Mahwah’s Nicole Lee was not one of them. She got off a shot between two defenders and put in the upper left-hand corner with 4:14 remaining in the first overtime as seventh-seeded Mahwah won its first section title with a 1-0 win over fifth-seeded Glen Rock, the same Glen Rock team that knocked them out of the state tournament last year.

“We kept plugging away until Nikki Lee finally got one in the back of the net for us,” said Mahwah head coach Michael Wright. “Our keeper, Emily Secor, had to make some great saves to keep us in it in the second half. Really our whole team played pretty well and I just told them going into overtime to keep doing what we’ve been doing. Glen Rock is so tough defensively and we knew we had to grind this one out.”

Sarah Fiorino and the Glen Rock defense were dominant in the state tournament.

Mahwah controlled play throughout the first half and well into the second, but it did not result in quality scoring opportunities. Glen Rock sweeper Sarah Fiorino was rock solid in the back and has held the Panther defense together all season, especially during the state tournament.

The Panthers only mustered five shots on net, but two of them came three minutes apart and were their best scoring chances of the match. But both times they were denied by fantastic saves from Mahwah goaltender Emily Secor. She made a diving save on Megan Gilmartin, then another one on a Colleen DeMaio breakaway with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation.

“I knew the game was on the line and I just went for it,” said Secor about her game-saving plays. “We lost to Glen Rock last year in the states and that gave us the motivation to keep fighting. We worked so hard all year for this and we’re so close as a team this year. I was confident that if we kept the pressure on them we would find a way to score.”

Mahwah nearly won it with three minutes to play in regulation on a shot just outside the box from its all-county midfielder Britney Albrecht. Glen Rock keeper Margi Rivara just got a fingertip on her floating shot to tip it over the crossbar and the teams headed toward overtime.

Emily Secor made two huge saves to get Mahwah into the overtime.

“We were definitely a little nervous because we didn’t want to go penalty kicks,” said Lee. “We really have a really good goalie (Secor), but we also knew how Glen Rock their last couple of games. I was just hoping we could get one good chance and we got it.”

After 80 minutes of offensive frustration, the Thunderbirds found the back of the net on their first shot of overtime. Jordan Davis, who was outstanding in the middle all game, gave a through ball up the right wing for sophomore Kristyn Tremblay. Tremblay crossed the ball into the middle of the box, where the ball landed on the foot of Lee. With barely enough room to get a shot off, she placed a shot past Rivara and into the upper right-hand corner to touch off a long-awaited celebration.

“It happened really fast, I just said to myself ‘you better not miss this’,” added Lee. “I just couldn’t believe it though when it went in. It didn’t seem real for a second until my teammates were screaming and jumping on me.”

While the loss was an especially tough one for Glen Rock, the journey just to get to this point is what head coach Tracy Trobiano chose to focus on.

Brittany Albrecht and Mahwah will face Bernards in the Group 2 state semifinal on Tuesday.

“It’s always tough when it ends this way, but I have no complaints and no regrets,” said Trobiano. “We could have easily lost in the quarterfinals and that’s still a good accomplish being we had five freshmen playing regular minutes for us. We got to the section final and played really, really well against a very strong Mahwah team, it just didn’t end the way we hoped it would.”

The two huge saves by Secor and good performances from senior sweeper Alyse Volino and senior fullback Allison Sokolik helped Mahwah (17-4-1) score its fourth consecutive state tournament shutout. The T-Birds will look to continue their run in the Group 2 semifinals, where they face North 2, Group 2 champ Bernards. That game will be played at Bridgewater-Raritan High School on Tuesday at 5:00.

“To score a game-winning goal in the section final the best feeling I’ve ever had,” said Lee. “We just kept knocking on the door and we kept going even though Glen Rock was playing great defense. There is really no feeling like a team working hard all year for one goal and then reaching it.”

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