Sienna Templeton (13) scored with 1:19 left in the first overtime to give Kittatinny a 1-0 win over Indian HIlls and its first ever state sectional title.

NEWTON – Over the two one lane bridges and around the back of the regional high school in Newton, there is a bumpy grass pitch with no scoreboard, a team with few substitutes on its bench and a history that before this season included zero county or state sectional championships.

To those in the northjerseysports.com coverage area, introducing Kittatinny Regional High School and its girls soccer program, a Group 1 program that has been putting in the work to produce outcomes like the one it earned on Thursday.

The Cougars’ head coach is Jeanette Spooner.

“It’s been the goal from the get-go since I got here. I teach phys ed, so I am in the gym everyday teaching class and I am like, ‘We really need a sectional banner for soccer.’ We don’t have one,” said Spooner. “We have been chipping away each season getting a little stronger.”

The blank spot will now be filled as Sienna Templeton’s volley off a Eleanor Deckert corner kick with 1:49 left in the first overtime period gave Kittatinny a 1-0 win over upstart Indian Hills and the North 1, Group 1 state sectional title, the first in program history.

“The second before [the goal] we had another corner and it was perfect. It went right across the 6 [yard box] and we missed it. When we got the next one I was like, ‘All right, I need to get this one in.’  I ran to the ball, found it like a magnet and I put that in right on my laces. It was in the top left corner and it was a great celebration right after,” said Templeton, Kittatinny’s senior sniper. “I TA for my coach in the gym and she is like, ‘Look, there is literally a spot there for a banner and we have to do it this year. No Sussex County team, I don’t think, has even won a sectional and I was like, ‘Spoons, we are going to do it this year, I know we are.”

Turns out Templeton is a clairvoyant as well as a talented soccer player, a handful in the penalty area who requires constant attention from opposing defenses. Her overtime goal gave the Cougars the sectional title to add to the H/W/S championship it won for the first time ever this season and goes to the best team in Hunterdon, Warren and Sussex Counties.

Amanda Gluchanicz helped Indian Hills three state tournament wins and a season record of 13-11

“They really deserve this, the adversity they have faced this season. One or two subs on the bench, some games no subs on the bench and just pulling off crazy wins. [Beating] Sparta twice definitely gave them the confidence that they could do it and I am just so proud of them,” said Spooner. “This is what you coach for; to coach a team like this that just has so much love for each other and gets to make history together. This is what it is all about.”

Indian Hills was trying to make some history, too. Playing in their first state sectional final since last winning it in 2003 and playing on a natural surface for the first time this season, the sixth-seeded Braves were looking to pull a third straight playoff upset on the road. They beat No. 3 Kinnelon in the quarterfinals, No. 2 Waldwick in the semis and held Kittatinny, the top seed that had scored 13 goals in its three previous state tournament games, scoreless through the first half on Thursday.

Indian Hills was holding its own in possession and the back line of Maggie Ferrary, Claire Reed and Gabi Robayo were absorbing the pressure created as Kittatinny (16-2-2) continued to target Templeton. With 27 minutes left in regulation, Indian Hills almost went in front. Amanda Gluchanicz’s in-swinging corner kick turned toward the goal and might have snuck in before Kittatinny keeper Brooke Ginsberg slid over to close down her near post.

“This game means everything to us seniors because we wanted to leave something behind; a legacy,” said Ginsberg, the senior keeper who will play at Kutztown University next season. “We won the H/W/S Tournament, which has never been done and we knew we had to do whatever we could to get states done, too.”

Freshman Eleanor Deckert provided the game-winning assist for Kittatinny, which will play Mountain Lakes in the Group 1 state semifinal on Monday.

Kittatinny had a goal waved off by an offsides call just as a Templeton header hit the back of the net in the 56th minute and the Cougars had the last best chance of regulation when Lola Brand was taken down at the edge of the area with seven minutes left.

The Indian Hills wall took care of the restart and the teams heading for overtime not only with the pressure ramped up, but also with fatigue a factor as both sides lean heavily on their starting 11s plus a sub here or there.

Indian Hills had the first real chance of the extra session when Gluchanicz sent in Alexa Koller up the right and her effort looked promising early in its flight before carrying over the crossbar. Kittatinny had the next two chances, the two corner kicks in quick succession that produced Templeton’s game-winner.

“I didn’t go up [on the corner kick], but I saw it all happen. I saw Sienna put it right in and I didn’t even know where to run. Everyone was all over the place and I didn’t know where to go celebrate,” said Kittatinny senior Holly Sajdak, who plays in the back with her sister Katie. “We have a really strong group of seniors because we have been playing together forever. It is so cool that we got to this our senior year. We started the season with three goals. We wanted to win the league, we wanted to with the H/W/S and we wanted to win the section. Today we got the section and the triple, which is where we really wanted to be.”

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