Friday, November 15, 2013

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

This is what the first state state sectional championship team in the history of New Milford girls soccer looks like after the Knights beat Park Ridge, 2-1, on Monday in the North 1, Group 1 state sectional final.

NEW MILFORD – Hearing the halftime whistle brought back some painful memories for New Milford’s Cydney Borner and her teammates and for good reason. It was on their home field in last year’s North 1, Group 1 championship match where Waldwick took a 1-0 lead at the half and went on to pull the upset, bringing an otherwise successful season for the Knights to a disappointing close.

Fast forward to Monday when New Milford was in a similar situation, down again 1-0 at the half on their home field in the section final against Park Ridge, another upstart team. The Knights refused to have their season end with the same fate and had no intentions of leaving their field without a trophy in hand. Thanks to the offensive connection of Borner and Alexis Monroy, they did not have to.

Less than a minute apart early in the second half, Borner headed in a pair of corner kicks from Monroy and top-seeded New Milford hung on from there to win the program’s first-ever section title with a 2-1 triumph over third- seeded Park Ridge in the North 1, Group 1 section final at New Milford High School.

Cydney Borner headed home two corner kick in a 50-second span to give New Milford the two goals it needed to erase a halftime deficit.

“It’s awesome. This is the best feeling ever to be part of school history and to do it with these girls,” said senior Erin Bigger, one of New Milford’s captains, who was all over the field making plays. “Losing here last year left us with a bad taste in our mouths. From the summer to the first day of practice until now, winning this game was the goal from day one and it feels great to accomplish our goal.”

Park Ridge grabbed the momentum early when Ashley Kirk fed a through ball that was run onto by Mikayla Heyboer, who drew out New Milford keeper Autumn Rogers and blasted one past her in the 12th minute to put the Lady Owls in front 1-0. New Milford had an edge in the possession game for the remainder of the half, but could not get any quality shots on target as they went to halftime down a goal.

Even though they were starting to gain momentum, the Knights needed to make a slight adjustment to switch things up and hopefully catch the stingy Park Ridge defense off-guard. They did not do it in the field of play, but instead on set pieces where the 5-foot-10 Borner is always dangerous.

“We weren’t taking the shots that we needed to,” said Borner, who had been the team’s leading scorer in each of her three seasons on the varsity level. “We switched up a play on a corner kick to see if we could get something going.”

Mikayla Heyboer scored the goal that gave Park Ridge the lead.

Borner and Monroy did more than get something going, they completely changed the complexion of the game. A line-drive corner kick found the head of Borner, who knocked one past Park Ridge keeper Mia Pagano in the 48th minute to knot the score at 1. Before the Knights’ fans could even sit back down after celebrating, Monroy teed up another corner kick. It went to about the exact same spot toward the near post and the end result was also the same as Borner headed it home to put the Knights in front 2-1.

“When we pushed up the field, we gained those corners and we knew we had to capitalize on those opportunities,” added Borner. “The old corner kick play wasn’t really working so we tried the new one. Lexi put up a great ball twice and I was able to leave the defender behind me to head it in. It was horrible how we felt after last year’s loss and we didn’t want to feel that again.”

Park Ridge’s best chance to tie the game came with 12 minutes to go on a long free kick by Carly Bargman. It was curving towards the upper left-hand corner, only for Rogers to leap up and knock it wide of the post. When Heyboer went down and did not return with just over seven minutes to play, it left the Owls without their best offensive weapon. Rogers (six saves) faced just one shot over those final seven minutes as New Milford got to enjoy a long awaited celebration.

Alexis Monroy served in the corner kicks that led to New Milford's second half goals.

New Milford will take the field again on Tuesday when it faces two-time defending North 2, Group 1 champ Glen Ridge in the Group 1 semifinals on Tuesday. Win or lose, the Knights have done exactly what they set out to do from the time the 2012 season ended. They made history with the school’s first-ever section championship in girls’ soccer.

“Getting back here was a challenge and we did not want to let this game slip away,” said New Milford head coach Joseph Albanese. “All season you’re trying to get in position to get one of the top seeds and play on your home field during the state playoffs. Even when we were down, we stuck with what has worked for us all season and everyone came up big for us. We had to wait a whole year to get back here and it was a long year.

“You keep saying to the girls from Mid-June in summer league to the first day or practice until today that if you work hard every day, this is what it takes to win a section title. To see that hard work come to fruition the way it did is indescribable. I couldn’t be more proud of this team than I am right now. It’s a surreal feeling that will stay with us forever.”

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