Sunday, November 3, 2013

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Eva Hurm (left) gets a hug after her goal late in the first half gave Northern Highlands a lead. IHA answered late in the second half and the teams shared the Bergen County championship.

OAKLAND – After giving up a goal in the final minute of the first half and still being down by that same goal well into the second half against Northern Highlands, Immaculate Heart Academy could settled for pride that comes with knowing that it gave the two-time defending Bergen County champion, a team riding a 65-game winning streak, everything it could handle and then some. But the minds of the Blue Eagles were elsewhere as their singular focus was on netting the equalizer. And while IHA is loaded with offensive weapons who can put the ball in the net against anyone, it was an unlikely source who scored the biggest goal of her life with time winding down.

Freshman Julianna Shrekgast came off the bench and got enough of her foot on the ball to squib a shot inside the right post with 5:25 to play as second-seeded IHA became the first team since 2010 to earn a result against No. 1 seed Northern Highlands as the two squads battled through 100 minutes of physical soccer and were declared co-champs after a 1-1 tie in Saturday’s Bergen County championship match at Indian Hills High School in Oakland.

"We knew it was going to be a battle right to the end," said IHA head coach Brandon Silva. "Even when we were down, we kept on fighting and we never gave an inch. We have the word 'Heart' right in our name. To be a county champion, we had to show more of that than we've ever had before and I couldn't be more proud of what we did today."

Freshman Julianna Shrekgast (26) came off the bench to score the biggest goal of her life, the equalizer that gave IHA a share of the Bergen County title.

IHA came out flying right from the opening whistle and nearly scored less than five minutes in when Molly Younghans pinged one off the crossbar. Midway through the first half, the Highlanders finally got their legs beneath them and started to control the possession game by playing the ball wide and using the whole field.

It looked like the Blue Eagles would escape the first half with no score as what seemed to be a goal by Northern Highlands' speedster Hana Kerner was waved off due to an offsides call with a minute to play. In an instant, the Highlanders found the back of the net and this time it counted. Kerner fed Eva Hurm into space along the right wing. Hurm cut back to her left to split two defenders and sent a low shot past IHA keeper Taylor Lupi with 39 seconds remaining in the half to give Northern Highlands a 1-0 halftime lead.

"To score like that before the half after having a goal disallowed definitely gave us some momentum," said Northern Highlands' head coach Tara Madigan. "I thought we possessed the ball well in the second half and we had a lot of scoring opportunities in both the second half and the overtimes, but we couldn't get that second goal."

The Highlanders' best scoring chance came just past the midway of the second half when Clare Shea's header hit flush off the left post and was cleared away. From that point on, IHA seemed to embrace a nothing-to-lose mentality and pushed forward desperately in pursuit of the equalizer.

Kayla Klatt was solid net net for Highlands, which now has a 66-game unbeaten streak.

Grace Jarrett and Shrekgast both came on as subs to create a spark in IHA's attack. Little did they know what an impact they would have on the final outcome. Jarrett sent a long cross towards the top of the box where Sophia Gulati flicked into the middle of the box with a sea of players from both teams waiting in front. Somehow, through all of the madness, Shrekgast was able to get the outside of her right foot on the ball and poke it into the side netting inside the right post with 5:25 to play to knot the score at 1 and send the game into overtime.

"I saw the ball come in and I just wanted to get a foot on it and put it on net," said Shrekgast, a freshman. "As I watched it bounce in, I was in total shock and I couldn't believe this was happening. This is honestly amazing, the greatest moment of my life and definitely the biggest goal I've ever scored."

Both teams had chances on both corner kicks and direct kicks in the two overtime periods. Unfortunately, what could have been the best scoring chance of them all never materialized. On a counterattack, Kerner received the ball at midfield with IHA sweeper Lizzie Miller back as the only defender who could stop her from a one-on-one with Lupi. As Kerner raced up the field towards Miller, the final whistle sounded with players from both teams looking around in total disbelief.

"It was such a crazy game that when the whistle blew and the game ended, no one really knew what to do or how to react," said IHA's Alex Mesropyan.

IHA keeper Taylor Lupi (right) stood up to Northern Highlands' dangerous arial game.

Klatt had a good game in between the pipes for Northern Highlands (17-0-1), which saw its state-record of 65 consecutive wins came to an end, but tie another state record with its 66th straight game without a loss. The Highlanders, who now have three Bergen County titles in a row, will turn their attention toward getting healthy for the state tournament where they are the No. 2 seed in North 1, Group 3. If the seeds hold up, they will face archrival Ramapo in the sectional semifinals.

Lupi finished with six saves for Immaculate Heart Academy (16-1-1). It was the first county crown for IHA since they capped off a run of four titles in a row back in 2010. It was also the first shared county title since the same two teams split the title in 2005. The Blue Eagles will also look ahead toward the state tournament where it is the top seed and defending champion in Non-Public North A.

Neither team truly got to celebrate the way a county champion should after a long, grueling tournament both mentally and physically. Players and coaches from both teams will look back one day and be proud to be part of one of the great games in Bergen County Tournament history. But they will also look back and think what might have been if they had gotten a chance to truly rejoice over winning a county title outright.

"It's definitely a weird, bittersweet feeling we have right now, but it's much better than a loss," added Mesropyan. "No one really goes into a game, especially a county final, hoping to get a tie, but sometimes it happens and you have to live with that. Both teams played their hearts out, played really well and left it all on the field. You can't really ask for much more than that."

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