Saturday,
October 5, 2013
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Freshman Erica Bardes (left) scored a goal and assisted on another in the first half and Pascack Hills held on for a 2-1 win at Mahwah on Friday. |
MAHWAH – It was Jackie Bardes' job to man-mark one of Mahwah's most dangerous offensive weapons. It was Erica Bardes' job to fly around the offensive third seeking to be just that for Pascack Hills as it looked to stay undefeated in a physical league game on the road. With Both Bardes' selling out to do just what was asked, they had things covered on both ends of the field for a Pascack Hills team that knows just one speed, full ahead, and both made an impact.
In the first half Erica Bardes, just a freshman, scored the opening goal and then assisted on the second. While protecting that lead in the second half, Jackie Bardes was on the back of Sarah Jordan, Mahwah's outstanding freshman striker, and was there every time she turned. Mahwah made a bid to overturn the two-goal halftime deficit, but Pascack Hills held on for an entertaining 2-1 win on Friday afternoon.
“We had a freshman step up today. She is very talented and she has been good in multiple games that we have played, but this is definitely the highlight of her career so far,” said Brianna Musco Pascack Hills' senior striker. “Erica Bardes was great today and she showed that she is another player on our team that people have to look out for.”
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Emily Jordan hammered home Mahwah's goal on a free kick from 25 yards out. |
After Erica Bardes opened the scoring in the 12th minute, she set up Musco for the game's second goal. Carrying the ball up into the corner on the left, she hit the perfect cross for Musco, who finished at the back post in the 22nd minute to give Pascack Hills the 2-0 lead it took into halftime.
Pascack Hills and Mahwah, along with Ramsey, have maintained the rivalry built in the old NBIL conference and have formed a Big 4 with River Dell in the Big North Conference Patriot Division. Any time any of these four teams go at it, there is a hockey-type element of physicality. There certainly was in the second half as Mahwah realized it had to press forward to get back in the game and had to go in hard after ball in the back to set up those opportunities. And Pascack Hills never backs down from a challenge.
“I told our girls at halftime that they were going to do everything they could to get back in the game. They were going to put three up top, they were not going to sit back. They were going to bring everything they had and we had to try to find a third goal. I did not think two would be enough,” said Pascack Hills head coach Scott Ernest. “As long as they were within two, they are going to keep coming. They are too well coached and they put us on the defensive more than we would have liked in the second half. It was by plan, but they upped the pressure on us for stretches.”
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Keeper Amy Annese and the Pascack Hills defense stayed composed against late pressure. |
Three minutes into the second half, Jordan finally created enough space just inside the area and took a rip that hit the left post and kept Mahwah searching for that first goal. It finally did come when a handball gave the Thunderbirds a free kick from the middle of the field just about five yards outside the area. There was a lot of shifting by the Pascack Hills wall, a lot of aligning from keeper Amy Annese, but in the end none of it mattered as Emily Jordan hit the sweet spot in the upper 90 on the left that no one could have saved to make it 2-1 with just under 16 minutes to play.
Mahwah was playing without junior Jaclyn Martinelli and another of its talented freshmen, Erin Jaffe, both injured last week in a game on the bumpy grass pitch at Dumont's middle school. But the T-Birds kept at it and the final 10 minutes were wide open as Mahwah searched for the equalizer and Pascack Hills was quick to counter against negative numbers going forward.
“That was a good goal on the free kick and they just kept pushing people up, but we were good at keeping ourselves together instead of getting frantic and freaking out all over the place,” said Annese, the Pascack Hills keeper. “We held our our marks, we stepped up and stayed strong.”
The Cowgirls were not just sitting back trying to ice the puck in the waning moments had chances to extend back to a two-goal lead. Kayla Strick took on a defender on the right hand side but her shot out the outside netting with 12 minutes to play and there was one sequence that produced two chances with just over 10 minutes to play. Amanda Toni’s free kick from the middle of the park bounced around in the box before being played out for a corner and the ensuing restart fell to Musco, who was in traffic when she got her foot on it. Mahwah keeper Emily Santos was there to make the save.
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Mahwah keeper Emily Santos made a brilliant first half save and was tough to beat all game long. |
With nine minutes left on the clock, Mahwah's Jennifer Moutenot moved forward to pounce on a loose ball and hammered one from 25 yards that sailed high and in the final 30 seconds, Sarah Jordan got free after a ricochet and had a run along the 18, but couldn't the ball back on to her favored left foot in time to get a shot on net just before the final whistle.
“This was our first true game playing without those two starters and we had to move some people around. It took some time for us to figure it out and we were already behind by two goal, but I am proud of my team's effort against a very good Pascack Hills team,” said Mahwah head coach Courtney Carrelha, whose team fell to 6-3 on the season. “I was impressed with our second half and if there is anything we can take away from this is that if we can play like we did in the second half for a true 80 minutes we can be very competitive from this point forward.”
Mahwah is seeded No. 8 and will take on Lodi in the opening round of the Bergen County Tournament on Sunday, which Pascack Hills (6-0-1) is seeded sixth and will host Rutherford in its first round game.
“I think, especially this year with the seniors we have and the younger players that have stepped up, that anything can happen and we can go far [in the county tournament],” said Jackie Bardes. “We are going to keep our focus on game by game. This was a good win against a good team and now we can get ready for the next one. We have the counties and then we have Ramsey so every game for us now is a big game.”
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