Tuesday, October 4, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Courtney Tarleton (7) knocked the lid off the goal as her tally off a free kick set Ridgewood up for a 4-1 win over Holy Angels in the opening round of the Bergen County Tournament on Monday.

RIDGEWOOD – Some players can just blend into a team. They are not called upon to take a leadership role, but are just counted upon to do their job when the opportunity comes their way. But when you are the center midfielder and a co-captain in a premier program like Ridgewood girls soccer, there is no avoiding the spotlight. Senior Courtney Tarleton is that player for this year's version of the Maroons and she needed to step up on Monday with her team locked in a scoreless tie in the first-round of the Bergen County Tournament against upstart Holy Angels on Monday. The Maroons needed a spark and Tarleton was there to provide it.

Her 35-yard free kick glanced off the fingertips of the goaltender and into the net and Emily Entwhistle scored 70 seconds later as eighth-seeded Ridgewood cruised home to a 4-1 win over Holy Angels, the No. 25 seed, at Ridgewood High School.

"It was a tough first half, probably tougher than we expected, but we kept plugging away until put a few in the net," said longtime Ridgewood head coach Jeff Yearing. "I think Holy Angels came ready to play and we got out of our game there for awhile in the first half. Once we got the first goal we started to get back to how we're capable of possessing the ball and started seeing some success in the offensive third."

Ridgewood had four shots in the first four minutes of the game and it looked like it might be a blowout from the opening whistle. But the Angels weathered the storm and started using an impressive possession game of their own to generate some offense. Despite both teams having scoring chances, neither team could break through until a pair of tough breaks allowed Ridgewood to get the lead and ultimately take control.

Amanda Fields and Holy Angels hung in there for the better part of the first half.

After a foul, Tarleton stepped up to take a long free kick and served one into the box exactly where she planned on putting it. But as the keeper came out to play the ball, it glanced off of her fingertips and trickled in with 5:58 to play in the half and Ridgewood struck first for a 1-0 lead.

"It wasn't meant to be a shot, but I'll take a goal and at the time we really needed it," said Tarleton. "Honestly, it was just a play where everyone crashes the net and I try to get it in the middle of the box so one of my teammates can get a head on it. It was a frustrating start to the game and we didn't want to go to halftime (0-0). Normally, we all celebrate when we score the first goal of a game. But today, it was more like a sigh of relief. We could play without worry about making a mistake and that was exactly what we needed."

Just over a minute later on a similar play off a set piece, AHA keeper Grace Ritter knocked down a shot in the box, but the Angels were unable to clear it away. Junior midfielder Emily Entwhistle was right there to clean up the mess and scored her first varsity goal to give the Maroons a more comfortable 2-0 lead at the half.

"For them to score two goals so close together late in the half hurt our spirit a little bit," said Holy Angels head coach Edwin Lara. "We had a few starters injured and had mostly sophomores on the field and had times when we were outplaying them in the first half, so that's a good sign. We had to put in the net before they did though and that didn't happen. It always comes down to finishing the opportunities you have, and they did that better than we did today."

Kelly McBrearty and Ridgewood will play Mahwah in the Round of 16 on Sunday.

Ridgewood put the game away early in the second half as Maura Feeney and Anna Caliendo scored three minutes apart to make it a 4-0 lead. Ridgewood (4-3-1) got four saves from Olivia Shaw, two from Charlotte Morley, and a solid performance from sophomore sweeper Olivia Rosenfeld for its first win in two weeks (a tie against IHA and losses to Paramus and Kearny). Kaitlin Concilio, Darby Kiernan, and Tarleton had one assist apiece.

Hanna Jansson scored the lone goal for Holy Angels (1-6-1). Ritter had 11 saves and Gabriella DiClemente had three for the Angels.

Monday marked the start of a rough week for Ridgewood, which will face off against Northern Highlands on Tuesday and then get defending Group 2 state champion Mahwah in the BCT Round of 16 on Sunday. With this week being a measuring stick for the Maroons, they know while every win is a good win, there must be improvement if they are to advance to the county quarterfinals.

"We know against teams like Highlands and Mahwah, we have to play much quicker, smarter, and more consistent than we did today," added Yearing, who has over 400 career victories. "To beat teams like those, you have to put together 80 minutes of good play in every phase. We still have lots of things to work on, but we'll take the result today."

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