Sunday,
October 20, 2013
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Nicole Roncancio scored in the 23rd minute and Clifton made that goal stand up as the Mustangs beat Pompton Lakes, 1-0, in the Passaic County Tournament semifinals |
WAYNE - Throughout head coach Stan Lembryk's tenure as its head coach, Clifton's girls soccer program has been known for being a tough, physical side that always matches and usually surpasses the intensity of its opponent. But the tables were turned in Saturday's Passaic County Tournament semifinal when upstart Pompton Lakes had the Lady Mustangs on their heels early.
It was an unfamiliar position for Clifton and a scary one with so much on the line. What they really needed was someone to right the ship and junior midfielder Nicole Roncancio stepped up to steer the Mustangs into the final.
Roncancio's goal in the 23rd minute gave top-seeded Clifton all the offense it needed and the Mustangs got stronger as the game wore on in holding off an upset bid and advancing to the Passaic County final for the fifth consecutive year with a 1-0 semifinal win over fifth-seeded Pompton Lakes at Wayne Valley High School.
"I think we were a little nervous in the beginning of the game for some reason and they caught us by surprise with how well they played," said Roncancio. "Once we got past being nervous, we settled down and started playing our game. We've been working so hard for this all year and we didn't want our run in county tournament to end today."
Pompton Lakes showed some fire early, led by Carly Nichols and fleet-footed Jen Pezzutti, who was the Cardinals' best weapon offensively throughout the game. The Cardinals had a scoring chance six minutes in by Nichols' shot was swallowed up by Clifton's all-state netminder Rachel Egyed.
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Jen Pezzutti and Pompton Lakes came out flying and had Clifton on its heels in the early going. |
After the rough start, the Mustangs snapped out of its funk on one play. On a scramble near the top of the box, freshman Jessica Roldan was able to toe-poke a pass to Roncancio without a defender anywhere near her. Roncancio walked in and blasted one past Pompton Lakes' keeper and into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead 22:22 into the match.
"I knew I was open and I was calling for the ball, but I had to stay patient until it came to me," added Roncancio. "(Roldan) played the ball to my feet and I was able to stay onside and score."
That goal was all the Mustangs needed as they took control of the game in the second half. Pompton Lakes hung with them in the possession game, but could not get off any quality scoring opportunities over the final 40 minutes.
"Clifton is an outstanding team that also has the best goalie in the state, which makes it incredibly difficult to comeback from a deficit against them," said Pompton Lakes' head coach Tom Clark. "I never worried about our effort nor our intensity. I actually thought we possessed the ball than I expected that we would and we adjusted well to their style of play. We just couldn't get any good looks in our offensive third of the field and that's a credit to how well-coached they are and how composed they are in the back. We want to be challenged and this is as good of a team as we'll face all year. We wanted to win, but I'm pleased with the effort against a top-notch program."
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Jessica Roldan (22) assisted on the goal that put Clifton in the county final for the fifth straight year. |
The University of Maryland-bound Egyed needed to make just three saves to earn her seventh consecutive shutout for Clifton (12-1), which had a 15-4 advantage in shots and 6-1 in corner kicks. The Mustangs also got good performances from striker Marisa Ale and marking back Gabrielle Sancarella.
Danielle Lucca finished with seven saves for Pompton Lakes (9-6), which dropped its third straight game, all by 1-0 scores.
Clifton will face a familiar foe next week for the Passaic County title when it squares off against second-seeded Wayne Hills. It will be the fourth time in the past five years that the two met in the PCT final. They each won one (Clifton last year, Wayne Hills in 2011) and were declared co-champs in 2009.
"Wayne Hills is always a very solid team front to back and we'll have our hands full," said Clifton head coach Stan Lembryk. "I think today was a good test for us because of how feisty Pompton Lakes is going after every ball. As the game went on we started playing tougher and more importantly, we started playing smarter. The game started to open up for us in the second half and we were much more comfortable playing with a lead. We have to do that for the entire 80 minutes next week, not just 40, if we want to come out on top.”
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