Tuesday, September 6, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Kristyn Tremblay scored goals in four different state tournament games last season and will lead the T-Birds' offense this year.

MAHWAH - Last year was simply the perfect storm for the Mahwah girls' soccer team. After losing late in the 2009 Group 2 state final and with plenty of senior star power returning, first-year head coach Courtney Levine and her players had their sights on the singular goal of making it back to the College of New Jersey for the state final, walking away with the best record in school history (21-2-1) and the hardware. Everything broke right for the determined Thunderbirds as they got past Ramsey in a classic section final before cruising past Hackettstown and then Johnson Regional for the school's first state title since 1985.

After the journey to get to the mountaintop, Mahwah now has to turn the page with a much younger team and plenty of opponents ready to knock it off. But the cupboard is far from bare for Levine, who is excited about the challenge of being defending state champs.

Offensively, it starts with striker Kristyn Tremblay, a senior captain. Tremblay was not as heralded a playmaker as Jordyn Davis (now playing at Kutztown University), a speed demon up the wing like Kristin Kosch (now playing at Seton Hall) or an elite scorer like Nikki Lee (now playing at Lafayette College), but she was the glue the held the offense together. While she was a secondary scoring option, Tremblay also had a knack for putting the ball in the back of the net at crucial times. Tremblay scored in four of Mahwah's six state tournament victories with her best game coming in the section final showdown with Ramsey. She assisted on the first two goals before netting the game-winner with 4:22 to play for the aforementioned 3-2 triumph.

"Last year was amazing in every way, but this is a brand new season and we have to treat it that way," said Tremblay. "We have had such great captains the past few years and they really set an example. I'm just going to try and follow what those captains did for me and be a leader for our younger players. We know teams are going to come after us more because we're state champs. I think we'll be ready for that and we just have to keep up our intensity every single game."

Tremblay will be joined up front by Christina Constantino, who saw some action during the state tournament, and promising freshman Emily Jordan is also expected to play a major role on the offensive attack. In the midfield, Christina Truglio and Kiersten Spencer return with a bevy of big-game experience and speed to burn on the outside.

"We feel that if we are clicking, we can score a lot of goals just as we did last year," said Levine, whose team last year averaged over four goals a game. "With some new players trying to fill the shoes of the players the players we had last year, there will be some growing pains at times. But if we keep progressing as a team and our young players can step up, we feel we have the talent to make another run in both the counties and the states."

However, the success of the T-Birds will likely be determined by how the defense holds up against tougher opponents with skilled strikers. To fortify the defense, Levine moved her sweeper from last year, Campbell Duffy, up to stopper and moved Katie Gatta into Duffy's vacated sweeper position. Senior Aly Burns returns to give Mahwah a steady presence in between the pipes.

"It's definitely going to be a tough test to get our defense on the same page, but we're getting better every day," said senior Molly Cohan, who will also be on the last line of defense. "It's important everywhere but especially on defense, chemistry is key. We have that and it's only getting stronger, which we feel is a good sign of things to come this season."

Even with several inexperienced players taking over for four-year starters this season, Levine feels this team has the talent to carry on the winning tradition that Mahwah has built in recent years. The Thunderbirds had an amazing run through last year's state tournament and has plenty back from that team, which leaves only one question that Campbell Duffy chose to answer without hesitation.

"Why can't we do it again and repeat as state champs?", said Duffy. "We know it's going to be a challenge, but that's the fun of it. We wanted to be tested and see how well we work together when the pressure is on. I think we at this point we know what our strengths are and it's now working on our weaknesses so that there aren't as many later in the season. Like every team in the pre-season, we still have a long way to go. But we're starting to come together and we think we have a chance to make some noise again."

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