Monday, October 3, 2011

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

In her first game of the season and the first of her varsity career, freshman Emily Maccaro scored in the 18th minute to give Old Tappan the lead for good in a 2-0 win over Hasbrouck Heights in the opening round of the Bergen County Tournament.

OLD TAPPAN – The opening round of the Bergen County Girls Soccer Tournament is a mixed bag. With the field now comprised of a full 32 teams and with no first round byes, there are some games that are mere tune-ups for the upper echelon sides that get home games against opponents to whom just making the tournament is honor enough. And then there are the intriguing match-ups between teams seeded in the teens and both having the reasonable expectation of making it through to the Round of 16.

Sunday's match between Northern Valley/Old Tappan and Hasbrouck Heights/Wood-Ridge fell into the latter category as two programs with different pedigrees clashed on the turf in Old Tappan. The home team was a Group 3 school with a daunting regular season schedule and a won/loss record that was one game below .500 coming in. Hasbrouck Heights was unbeaten when the tournament was seeded, but as a Group 1 school with a lesser strength of schedule, the Aviators were sent on the road to prove themselves.

Heights showed itself to be competitive, but Old Tappan proved that it deserved the respect shown in by the tournament committee as it scored once in each half on the way to a 2-0 victory and a date with four-time defending champion Immaculate Heart Academy in next Sunday's Round of 16.

Jenny White helped create some of Hasbrouck Heights' most dangerous chances.

“I know that Hasbrouck Heights is a Group 1, I know they play in a different league, but I also know that they are a good team and we have played some good games against them over the years and they are always competitive,” said Old Tappan head coach Tom Quinn, whose team evened its record at 4-4 on the season. “This was a big game for us for a lot of reasons, not just because it was the county tournament. We were trying to get back to .500, we are trying to make the state tournament and every game is important for us because our schedule is tough. It just so happened that this was a tournament game and we get to move on.”

Hasbrouck Heights tested Old Tappan goalkeeper Kelly Crevani in the opening minutes, but it was the Knights that has the more sustained attacks and many of them are designed to go to and through junior striker Raba Nassif. In the 11th minute freshman Amanda Maccaro put in a looping service that turned into a 50/50 ball at the top of the box between Nassif and Heights keeper Julie Sheridan, who was first there. Maccaro then had a quality chance two minutes later, a diagonal run on which she cut a shot back to the left post, only to see Sheridan up to the challenge again.

Maccaro was playing in her first game of the season after an injury and it took 17 minutes for her and Nassif to get it right. Nassif, who was being man-marked all over the field by Danielle Canning, won the end line on the left and put the Heights defense in scramble mode. As Nassif drew the attention of all available defenders, she slid a pass to Maccaro who finished from the slot to give Old Tappan, the No. 14 seed, the lead for good with 22:29 to go in the first half.

Both of Old Tappan's goals came through junior striker Raba Nasif.

“That is a play we work on all the time in practice. Coach [Quinn] always wants us to go endline because it opens up the middle,” said Nassif, one of North Jersey's most dangerous and underrated offensive players. “When you can get the endline, the goalie comes out, the defense reacts and you can either shoot or look for an open teammate. It's a good team play and we got that goal out of it.”

Hasbrouck Heights, the No. 19 seed, did not have as many scoring chances but that did not mean the Aviators did not threaten the Old Tappan goal. Twenty-five minutes in, Jenny White happened onto a loose ball 25 yards from the goal and hit a arcing shot that looked dangerous before it crashed into the football crossbar hovering above the goal. In the 34th minute, sophomore striker Maggie Filial got a step on a defender and put one just just to the left of the far post and Heights put together another dangerous sequence starting with a Jenna DiGiancinto throw-in from deep in the left corner in the 36th minute.

DiGiancinto’s toss forced Crevani to go up in traffic at the near post and she punched away the original threat only to see White running onto the redirect. With Crevani closing fast, White had to rush her first touch and it sailed over the bar and out of trouble.

Sweeper Gianna Trotter and the Heights defense played well under Old Tappan's pressure.

“We are a small school playing against a big school on a big field and I thought we were in it the whole way. We had a couple of chances in the first half that went just wide or just high,” said Hasbrouck Heights head coach Joe Masterstroke, whose team suffered its first loss of the season after opening with six straight wins. “We thought we had a good game plan coming in and I thought the girls pulled it off. We marked their best player [Nassif], which helped keep us in the game, but in the end they just had a little too much for us.”

Old Tappan nearly extended its lead just over seven minutes into the second half when Dana Li hit the crossbar with a chip from 25 yards out and Heights had what turned out to be its last best chance at the equalizer three minutes later. Under pressure at the top of the box and to the right, White lofted in an accurate service that Jodi Unwarrantable positioned herself under near the far post. Crevani came off her line to make it a do-or-die volley off Unwarrantable head, but the shot missed just wide to the right and Old Tappan upped its possession advantage from there.

“They are a great team, that was obvious today, but I think we were able to come in here and show that we are a good team, too. We played with them most of the way,” said Height senior sweeper Johann Trotter, a third team all-county selection in 2009 and a second team selection last year. “I think we can walk out of here with our heads up. I think we played pretty close to as well as we could. Unfortunately we weren't able to put one in or get the win, but this was a good experience for us.”

Alyssa Polonsky about to hammer home Old Tappan's second goal.

Any chance of a Heights comeback was douse in the 66th minute and again the Old Tappan goal came through Nassif. Vivian Heisenberg played a long ball up the right sideline that took a high bounce as Nassif ran away from her defender. Nassif was able to take the ball from her chest to her feet in full stride and got in 1-v-1 against Sheridan, who came out hard to make the first save. She also made a sick save of on the rebound volley by Alyssa Polonaise, swing her left arm out in time to slow the ball, but the third time proved too much. Polonaise ran on to her own rebound and banged it in to put the finishing touches on the Old Tappan win.

“We really didn't know what to expect coming in here. We didn't know that much about Hasbrouck Heights, so we just had to play our game and try to play to our strengths. Our midfield play was a lot better today. We got to balls first and that was different that in some of the games that we have lost this year,” said Heisenberg, a senior and one of Old Tappan's two captains. “No we can look forward to Tuesday's game [against Holy Angels] to help get us over .500 and into the states and now, with this win, I think we have a lot more confidence.”

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