Saturday, November 15, 2008

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Juliana Romano headed home a corner kick to give Heights the lead for good as it knocked off Glen Rock, 2-0, to claim its first-ever girls soccer state sectional championship.

HASBROUCK – It has been a long time coming for the Hasbrouck Heights girls soccer program and when it was over, after the Aviators had posted a 2-0 win over Glen Rock in the North 1, Group 2 state sectional final, you could almost hear the sigh of relief. In 12 years under head coach Ollie Pimm, Heights has been a prolific winner, a team untouchable in the BCSL-National Division and one that had been to three previous sectional finals, only to come up empty each time.

But what has been an emotional rollercoaster of a season turned into the best ever season for Hasbrouck Heights, which finally added a state sectional title to its long list of accomplishments with a 2-0 win over Glen Rock on Friday afternoon.

What kind of emotions were the Aviators dealing with? Pimm informed his players before the season that this would be his last as head coach. He lost his mother last week after a long illness and there was no doubt that his players wanted to send him out with a championship, a just reward for a class act who had not won a sectional title since he was the head coach at IHA back in 1996 (1-0 in the Group 4 final over Ridgewood on a goal by then freshman Erin Englehardt as Pimm related off the top of his head).

Glen Rock's Sam Trotta did not have much room to operate against Heights' sturdy defense.

Oh yeah, and Heights has played this season without Rosa Halowen, its leading scorer from last year who was lost to a knee injury.

“We weren’t playing just to win, we were playing for so many other things,” said Juliana Romano, one of the eight seniors on the Heights roster. “We were playing for Ollie, we were playing for his mom and for everything that we have been through as a team this season. It was just right, it just fit and we knew we had to win.”

And Romano played a large part it in it. The game was scoreless through halftime and the first 16 minutes of the second half before Romano moved up from the back to cause some havoc on a corner kick. When Megan Gwozdecke hit the restart, Romano found herself unmarked on the back post from where she headed in the game’s first goal.

Restarts were the difference in the game as the Aviators put another one away with just under 20 minutes to go. This time it was JoJo Pisani who knocked in a header off a thrown-in that provided an insurance goal and her 51st of the season. Same success, different uniform for Pisani, who won three sectional titles in her three years as a starter at Ramapo before transferring for her senior year.

JoJo Pisani's 51st goal of the year served as insurance for Heights.

“This was big. This [sectional championship] is what we wanted to win and we got it done,” said Pisani. “We are going to try to win the rest [of Group 2], but we got what we wanted here today and it feels good.”

For Pimm, that would be an understatement.

“This has always been our goal. This is what we have focused on all year. This is what we talked about, this is what we worked for and this was the day,” said Pimm, whose team improved to 21-1-1. “This is just fantastic. These girls deserved it. Honestly, one of my biggest impressions is that we lost our best player [Halowen] and still did this. That is what impressed me most about this group and it just all came together for us today.”

The North 1, Group 2 bracket was supposed to be the one in which the seeds were ripe to be turned upside down. Heights was No. 1 and Glen Rock was No. 2, but both of them were supposed to cede to NBIL powers like Mahwah, Ramsey and Pascack Hills, which came into the tournament as the defending champion. But as it turned out, the two old rivals from their Group 1 days, who met in section finals in 2000 and 2003, both Glen Rock wins, were left standing.

Darcy Rose making a save in goal for Glen Rock.

The impressive run just to get to Friday was not lost on Glen Rock head coach Tracy Trobiano.

“We were really proud of our state run. I was asked if I was disappointed about today, but I am not disappointed at all in the grand scope of things. We beat three tough teams, Dumont 1-0, Mahwah 2-0 in the second round against a traditional NBIL power and 2-0 against North Warren, a tough team that a lot of people don’t know about,” said Trobiano. “The difference here today was that they converted on their restarts and we did not. They put two in and we weren’t able to answer. No excuses and I am still proud of my team, our state run and the season that we put together.”

For all of the attention paid to Pisani and Heights’ offense, the foundation of the Aviators’ success this season has been along the back line, which consists of Amanda and Chelsea Spethman, Romano and freshman Johnna Trotter in front of all-county goalkeeper Angela Christofolo. Heights has allowed just one goal in its last 10 games, not a bad stat to take with it into Tuesday’s Group 2 state semifinal where it will take on North 2 champion Caldwell on Tuesday in a 5:00 p.m. start at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.

One thing that Heights will not be bringing with it to the semifinals is pressure to win, which was left on its home field amid Friday afternoon’s celebration.

“There is no pressure anymore,” said Pimm. “We are playing with house money from now on”

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