Wednesday, November 2, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Maria Stange (7) borrowed a pair of cleats and then went out and netted a hat tirck as Rutherford won its state tournament opener, 6-0, over McNair in Jersey City on Tuesday.

JERSEY CITY – Heading into a first-round state tournament game, soccer players' senses are on high alert. They are so focused on every aspect of the game that sometimes the most routine things are not even on their minds. For Rutherford’s Maria Stange yesterday, it was her cleats. Luckily for her, teammate Katie O’Sullivan happened to have an extra pair of the same size that she could use. After Stange's performance in those borrowed boots, it looks like O’Sullivan won’t be getting her old cleats back anytime soon.

Stange snapped a long scoreless drought to open the scoring and tacked on two more goals for her first career hat trick as 10-seeded Rutherford was in control throughout its 6-0 victory over seventh-seeded McNair Academic in the first round of the North 2, Group 2 state tournament on Tuesday at Caven Point in Jersey City.

“It was nice to finally get some goals on the board and get back that winning feeling,” said Rutherford head coach Marisa Yoda.

McNair was coming off one of its best performances of the season in an overtime loss against Bayonne. That momentum carried over momentarily as the Cougars had their only scoring chances of the first half in the first eight minutes. A corner kick was knocked around in the box before Rutherford keeper Leah Miceli could pounce on it. Brianna Miller, one of the state’s leading scorers, had a hard shot from 15 yards out that Miceli grabbed.

Anna Tyryllo and McNair finished their season with a 9-9 record.

Rutherford came into the game frustrated beyond belief on the offensive end of the field. While the Bulldogs, in the midst of a four-game losing streak, had been stringing passes together and earning numerous scoring chances, none of them seemed to end with the ball in the back of the net. After being shutout in three straight games, the Bulldogs were starving for goals and they finally came in bunches.

Isabelle Grenier slipped a long through ball for a breakaway by Kendall Vazac. McNair keeper Anna Tyryllo came out to make the initial save, but the ball skipped right to Stange. On one of her first touches of the game in her new shoes, she tapped it home in the 11th minute to snap a nearly 200-minute scoreless drought and give Rutherford a 1-0 lead.

Three minutes later, Stephanie Netelkos held off two defenders on a long ball from Vazac and bent a shot over Tyryllo and in as the Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead into halftime.

“It was nice to see our hard work pay off offensively,” added Yoda. “We have been doing the right things lately, we just haven’t been able to finish. I think being in the state tournament where everyone starts with a 0-0 record helped us a lot. I thought we played more composed and we were calmer than we have been in a long time. We just kept playing our game and the goals all came for us today.”

Rutherford's Gina Viggiano finished with two assists from her midfield spot.

Rutherford put the game away early in the second half with Stange once again leading the charge. She scored three minutes into the second half and, five minutes later, Netelkos cleaned up a mess in front off of a corner kick by Gina Viggiano for a commanding 4-0 lead.

“We needed to make a push to start the second half and they did it instead,” said McNair Academic head coach John Hughes. “If we scored early in the first half with the chances we had, maybe the outcome would be different. We’re very young defensively and they exposed our flaws today. Rutherford deserved the win though, they just outplayed us.”

While Stange was lighting it up with her backup cleats, O’Sullivan also showed she had the scoring touch with her own cleats. From the top corner of the box, she struck a perfect direct kick into the upper left-hand corner. Just 70 seconds later, Stange completed her hat trick in the 56th minute for the final 6-0 margin.

Miceli made four saves to earn her fifth shutout of the year for Rutherford (8-9), which held a 26-8 advantage in shots. Stange, who had five goals on the season coming into the game, added three more to that total with the hat trick. Viggiano also played well as an outside mid, contributing two assists. Tyryllo finished with 16 saves for McNair Academic, which finished the season with a 9-9 record.

Rutherford keeper Leah Miceli posted her fifth shutout.

Rutherford, which does not have one senior on its roster, moves into the section quarterfinals where it will travel to face second-seeded Madison. With a state win under their belts, an offense that is back on track, and a nothing-to-lose attitude, the Bulldogs feel they will be a tough out in a North 2, Group 2 section that is wide open. That is a challenge Stange, her teammates, and her newfound cleats are looking forward to taking head-on.

“We hit a rough patch and had a bad losing streak, but the state tournament lets us start fresh,” said Stange. “Scoring first today was really big for us because we hadn’t scored in such a long time. Our entire team has really been working hard together and I think our team is back now to where we were earlier in the season. If we can work together and keep finding ways to score, we know we have a good chance to keep on winning. I’m just happy I got a few goals today and help our team out. There is no way Katie (O’Sullivan) is getting her cleats back until our season is over.”

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