Wednesday, October 19, 2011

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Rachel Cole scored five times for Dwight-Englewood, whose 6-1 win marked their first-ever victory over Cresskill in girls soccer.

ENGLEWOOD – Dwight-Englewood and Cresskill were long grouped together in the BCSL-Olympic Division and when the conferences were realigned before the start of last season the teams were moved together into the NJIC- Patriot A Division. But, in girls soccer at least, what the two teams share could hardly be called a rivalry. In all of the years that they have played each other, Dwight-Englewood had never beaten Cresskill on the pitch, including their first matchup this year that was won by the Cougars.

That meant that Tuesday represented the last opportunity for Dwight-Englewood's senior class led by Rutgers-bound Rachel Cole and Princeton-bound Jessica Lee. If it was ever going to happen, it was on Tuesday when Cresskill was without its leading scorer Ani Sarkisian, who did not play.

And it happened big time. Cole scored nine minutes into the game to give her team the lead and then added four more times as Dwight-Englewood posted a decisive 6-1 win and moved to 8-4 on the season, 8-3 in league play, and even in the loss column with Cresskill (9-3, 9-4) for first place in the Patriot A Division.

Emma Campbell set up many of Cresskill's best scoring chances.

“This is what the girls play for, it is what they have worked so hard for for a long time,” said Dwight-Englewood head coach Eddie Ballas. “This is the first time that we have reached this far [in a season with a chance to win a league title] and these three games this week can be a big life experience for them that they can carry the rest of their lives. And everybody stepped up and played well.”

Cole's first goal was the result of space that she created when she ran onto a ball on the left side and beat a defender. She dribbled back to the middle, let another defender drift by and then shot back to the side from where she came. The ball bounced off the inside of the left post and in to put the Bulldogs in front for good. Four minutes later, Cole chased another bouncing ball in the box and got to it on the edge before slicing a shot back over her head and across the goal. It went over Cresskill keeper Caitlyn Higgins, who came out in pursuit of the original cross, and inside the opposite post for a 2-0 Dwight-Englewood lead in the 14th minute.

The Bulldogs made it 3-0 when Adrian Damato ran through a rebound with 21:30 left in the first half and Dwight-Englewood's defense was solid in stopping the Cresskill attack and moving the ball forward to give Cole and the rest of the offense more opportunities to go to goal.

Sydney Hertz and the Dwight-Englewood defense limited Cresskill's opportunities.

“It's really exciting. We wanted to win a game against Cresskill since my freshman year and well before that. We've wanted this forever and we knew it was going to take a team effort today,” said Sydney Hertz, a junior. “Everyone got to play, we had a lot of the girls who don't start come in and help, the defense was rock solid and our midfield and forwards, everyone was really helping out to get the goals.”

If Cresskill had a chance to get back in the game it was in the final four minutes of the first half and in early in the second. In the 36th minute Emma Campbell won the endline on the right and headed right at Dwight-Englewood keeper Austen Tosone, who held her ground and made a bang-bang save. Two minutes later, Campbell served a line drive to toward the right post that Olivia Karach got on the end of only to see her flick miss just wide of the framework.

Six minutes into the second half, Campbell lined up a free kick from 25 yards out on the right hand side. She hit a bender over the Dwight-Englewood wall and on net, but Tosone rushed over to get a piece of it and hustled to chase down the rebound just before Cresskill's Kyrstin Swan could redirect it home. That was a real turning point as Dwight-Englewood countered the other way, Cole sliced through the middle of the defense on a long run and scored to make it 4-0.

Adriana Damato scored the goal that put Dwight-Englewood up 3-0.

Cresskill broke up the shutout with 18:47 left in the game when Bryanna Roos walked in on net on the right and finally found a way to get one past Tosone. Roos hit one high and through the keeper's gloves to get Cresskill on the board. But Cole added two more goals, one in the 66th minute and the last inside the final two minutes to finish off her hat trick plus two and pulled Dwight-Englewood into a tie in the loss column with five league games left to play.

“I am so proud of this team here it is unbelievable because nobody [thought of us] for a league title and teams have walked over for a long time. But everybody has picked it up, Austen Tosone has picked it up, the defense has picked it up, Jessica [Lee] is helping to set things up and Rachel Cole is scoring goals like crazy every game,” said Ballas. “This is huge for us and the girls knew what was at stake for them here today and to play the way they did here, I am so proud of them.”

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