Monday, October 29, 2007

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

After falling behind in the first five minutes, Ashlee Burt and IHA kept the pressure on until they coould tie the score and win in penalty kicks against Ramapo in the semifinals of the Bergen County Tournament.

ORADELL – The talent that Immaculate Heart Academy puts out on the soccer field this season has never been in question. Dominating the opposition over the course of one game is one thing, to do it for entire season is another and IHA has been so dominant in 2007 that close games have been few and far between.

But on Sunday in the semifinals of the Bergen County Tournament against Ramapo, IHA mental toughness was tested just as much as its physical skills.

Just over five minutes into the game, Ramapo put the Blue Eagles in a position they had not faced all year. Amy Van Dyk booted a loose ball towards the IHA net and into a swirling wind. The ball took a high bounce and went over IHA keeper Kate Courter’s hands and into the net to put the Green Raiders on top 1-0. It was the first time that IHA had trailed all season.

But the Blue Eagles stuck with it, tied the game in the second half and forced penalty kicks, which gave IHA senior Claire Reinhard a chance for redemption. After missing a chippie late in the second half, she buried a penalty kick in the fifth round of shooters to lift top-seeded and undefeated IHA to a thrilling 2-1 (5-4 PKs) victory over Ramapo, the No. 4 seed, at River Dell High School.

Ramapo keeper Caroline Shiel making one of her best saves on what turned out to be a busy day.

“This was a big test and I’m glad we stepped up when it counted,” said Reinhard. “Even when we got down and things got tough, we stayed focused mentally and we never got down on one another. We just picked each other up and we stayed aggressive.”

The early trouble that IHA found itself in was similar to last year’s quarterfinal when it also came into the tournament as the unbeaten top seed. They fell behind quickly against Northern
Highlands, which then punched in an insurance goal and, even though the Blue Eagles dominated the final 70 minutes of that match, the Highlanders pulled off the 2-0 upset.

The difference this time around was that, even though IHA still trailed at the half, they had the better of play for most of the first 40 minutes. Included in that were three shots that hit the
crossbar, along with stellar play from Ramapo goaltender Caroline Shiel.

“We were still down, but I was confident because I liked the way we were playing,” said IHA head coach Steve Silver. “I give my kids a lot of credit, we kept the pressure on and we kept attacking their net. We knew Ramapo was going to be tough and we had to rise to the challenge. I think the way we played after they scored showed how much we’ve grown up as a group as compared to last year.”

Rachel Wechsler and top-seeded IHA will face No. 2 No. Highlands in the county final next week.

In the 49th minute, the Blue Eagles finally got the equalizer they had been seeking. Off of a corner kick, the ball pinballed around in the box before trickling through to the foot of Ashley Clarke. The sophomore drilled a shot past Shiel and into the back of the net to knot the score at 1.

The Blue Eagles tried to forge ahead by feeding the ball up top to dangerous striker Ashlee Burt. However, she was tightly marked all afternoon by Ramapo’s Allison Marseca. IHA had several chances over the final eight minutes to pull ahead, the best coming from Reinhard with 5:10
to play. A cross got deflected and rolled right to her from about eight yards out. But she got under the ball and the shot sailed over the crossbar as the teams headed to overtime.

The only scoring chance for either team during the two overtime periods came off of a free kick in the 92nd minute. IHA’s Erin McGovern got a head on it and the shot skimmed off the top of the crossbar. After 100 minutes of physical action, the two teams went to penalty kicks to decide who would advance.

Amy Van Dyk scored inside the first five minutes to give Ramapo an early lead.

Both teams scored on their first three shots before controversy stepped in on Ramapo’s fourth shot. Kielty Wright’s shot hit the crossbar and bounced out, but she was allowed to take the shot again since it was ruled that Courter came off of her line before the shot. Wright made the most of her second chance by tucking the shot inside the right post to tie the penalty kick round score at 4. After a miss by Ramapo’s fifth shooter, the stage was set for Reinhard to be the hero.

“I missed a chance in the second half and I just wanted a chance to make up for it,” said Reinhard. “There was a lot of pressure, but I just had to put it out of my mind. I picked the same spot that I would usually go to when taking a penalty kick and I just went for it.”

The shot went in past a diving Shiel to put an end to an exciting game and lift IHA back into the Bergen County final for the second time in three years. For Ramapo, it was a testament of how far it has come since the beginning of the season. By taking what was recently ranked as the nation’s No. 1 team to the limit, the Green Raiders know they can play with anyone and will take that as a positive going into the state tournament.

“I’m very happy with the way we played, very happy, just not happy with the result,” said Ramapo head coach Paul Hennehan, whose team can now turn its focus toward defending its Group 3 co-championship when the state playoffs begin later this week. “IHA’s speed and depth was a real problem for us and they had us on our heels at times. But we played hard and we gave them a real battle. I thought we did everything we could and we left it all out on the field.”

IHA held a 21-5 advantage in shots and a 7-2 edge in corner kicks. Shiel finished with eight saves for Ramapo, while Courter finished with three. The seeds held true in this year’s Bergen County Tournament where the top-seeded Blue Eagles move into next Sunday’s final to face second-seeded Northern Highlands, a 1-0 winner over Mahwah.

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