Friday, November 13, 2009

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Eilis McGovern (left), Val Sydnor (8) and Melissa Fichera, teammates since they were seven-year olds, each scored a goal in Northern Highlands' 3-2 win over upstart Paramus in the North 1, Group 3 state sectional final on Thursday afternoon.

ALLENDALE – The Northern Highlands girls soccer team had not given up more then one goal in a game all season and has never trailed. The lone loss on the Highlanders' record came on a golden goal in overtime in the Bergen County Tournament final and had just held archrival Ramapo scoreless through 100 minutes before winning in a shootout in the North 1, Group 3 state sectional semifinal. So you can imagine the Highlanders' surprise when they gave up their usual quota of goals and fell behind all at once less than two minutes into Thursday's state section final against a Paramus team that clearly came ready to play.

Dean A. Moore Stadium was rocking as Northern Highlands High School let out early to allow the entire student body and staff to watch the action. There was a pregame buzz as the stands filled in to a total of somewhere near 1,500 people, but Lannigan made it awfully quiet when she chipped the goalie in the second minute.

“I’ll give it to Paramus. They let their excitement overcome their nervousness and they put one away early,” said Northern Highlands head coach Tara Madigan. “I was just hoping that our kids would come back and score an equalizer before halftime.”

Megan Lannigan scored inside the first two minutes to give Paramus the first of its two first half leads.

Actually, Highlands scored two equalizers before halftime, erasing 1-0 and 2-1 deficits, and then got a goal from Val Sydnor with just over four minutes left in regulation to give Northern Highlands a 3-2 win and its first state sectional championship since 2003, Madigan’s first year at the helm.

The first 74 minutes of the game were just about an even split as Paramus was able to work the flanks against Highlands’ stout defense, while the Highlanders used their more deliberate approach to work the ball through the center of the field to build their attacks. But with about six minutes to go, Highlands started to press the action, locking the Spartans in their defensive third and pressuring the net.

The pressure led to a throw-in from the left sideline just in midfield and Sydnor’s goal followed soon after. Sam Fiorenzo knocked Tara Corbett’s throw-in forward and Sydnor made an aggressive play, going in hard against two defenders and getting a cleat up to advance the ball. Sydnor then had the angle and followed her first touch as Paramus keeper Alex Garey raced off her line. Sydnor got there first and used her left foot to pooch the ball over Garey and into the net for the game-winner.

“I was playing on the right side and I saw chaos happening on the left side, so I sprinted over to help out. It was kind of a loose ball. I got a touch on it and I saw the goalie was kind of out of the goal and I could chip it,” said Sydnor, a junior. “I just did my best to get there and it went in.”

Junior keeper Caroline Broder was sold again in net for Northern Highlands.

It was an exciting finish, but the rest of the game wasn’t too shabby, either. Lannigan fired the first shot and Paramus, making its first ever trip to the section final, never backed down even after Northern Highlands seemed to regain momentum when it scored in the 10th minute to tie the game.

Melissa Fichera crashed the near post off a ball that was bouncing around in the box and got Highlands even when she used the outside of her right foot to push the ball across the goal and in to make it 1-1. Undeterred, Paramus went back in front in the 22nd minute and did so with speed.

On a counterattack, Jenny Zymet blew by a defender just inside midfield and made a run up the right side. Zymet got deep then served in the perfect ball for freshman Sarah Cortes, who popped her first touch over a sliding Caroline Broder and into the net to put Paramus up 2-1.

“It was a unique situation. We haven’t been down in the first half and we haven’t given up more than one goal in a game all season. My mindset was just to save the next one,” said Broder, Highlands’ junior keeper who didn’t have a chance on either goal allowed. “I wouldn’t say we were surprised because we didn’t come in here with an air of superiority. We knew Paramus was good. They have some good players, they are a tough team and we had to keep working.”

Jenny Zymet used her speed to set up Paramus's second goal.

Paramus was less than six minutes from carrying its second lead into halftime, but Highlands’ caught the Spartans from behind again. Highlands senior midfielder Alex Hubelbank and Paramus junior Kristina Meier are two of Bergen County’s most physical players and their battles took place up and down the field, one of them in front of the Paramus net late in the first half.

Hubelbank went up in a crowd to flick on a ball played in from the corner and the ricochet travelled deeper toward the end line and the near post where Eilis McGovern had the space to place her header back across the crease and inside the far post. McGovern’s goal tied the game at 2 with 5:55 left in the first half and left 40 minutes of play for all the marbles.

“We got two leads; we just couldn’t make them stick. Northern Highlands is the No. 1 seed for a reason, everybody knows how good they are, but I think some people underestimated us and didn’t expect us to play a game like this,” said Vic DePasquale, who was making his deepest foray into the state tournament in his 19 years as Paramus’ head coach. “And we had some chances in the second half that we couldn’t convert.”

Alex Hubelbank's physical style helped set up Northern Highlands' second goal.

One of those chances came in the 55th minute when Cortes, who was a tough mark all day even for Highlands’ organized defense, got free up the left side and then cut back in, drawing the defense and opening space for Lauren Fiorino, who she sent in on a diagonal. But Broder had it read perfectly and was already near the top of the 18 as Fiorino arrived. Broder slid and made a bang-bang save to keep the game even.

The game was fluid, physical and well-played with each team taking the possession advantage for stretches, but it was in the final 15 minutes that Highlands started to wrest control. It finally paid off in Sydnor’s goal and added a nice little twist to Highlands’ season, which will continue on Tuesday against North 2, Group 3 champion West Morris-Mendham in the Group 3 state semifinal. Highlands’ three goal scorers – Sydnor, McGovern and Fichera – have been teammates since starting together on the U-7 Americans club team.

“The positive coming out of this game is that we were down and we came back to tie it and we went down again and came back to tie it. It’s the first time we’ve been in that situation and it is a good sign that we were able to handle it,” said Madigan. “It’s a great experience to still be playing this late in November and we hope to continue. We have a chance to rest before Tuesday and right now we are going to enjoy this moment.”

The final goal of Sarah Cortes' outstanding freshman season gave Paramus a 2-1 lead.

There were plenty of moments to enjoy in this season for Paramus as well. In addition to making the longest run in the state playoff in the history of their girls soccer program, the Spartans reached the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament. They also picked up the kind of big game experience that can only help down the road as they will return a host of talented players in 2010.

The loss off Zymet will hurt when she graduates in June, but she is one of just four seniors on the roster. Cortes has emerged as one of the top offensive threats in North Jersey in just her freshman season; Lannigan, Meier, Stephanie Hallihan, Ashley Roessler, Shayna Brock and Tori Feorenzo make up the core of a deep junior class and sweeper Noelle Mattesich and Fiorino were solid contributors in their sophomore seasons.

“It’s not just Sarah Cortes, who played great today, but Megan Lannigan comes out and scores inside two minutes. She didn’t make all-county, but she showed that she can score against a team full of all-county players. Meier had a great game in the middle knocking everything out and they will all be back,” said DePasquale. “We played awesome today, we just fell one notch short. A great effort, just a little bit short.”

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