CRESSKILL – Maybe there is something to this 'manifesting' a thought into reality. Pascack Hills Morgan York had a distinct idea as she was standing at the near post awaiting a throw-in from Kaitlyn Wittlinger seven-and-half minutes into the second half of Wednesday's first round match in the North 1, Group 1 state sectional tournament.

"I remember thinking I want to score a backwards header on this. That was what was going through my mind right before Kat threw it in," said York. "I really wanted to score. I didn't know what was going to happen in this game or if this was going to be our last game of the season, but I really wanted to get that goal."

So, Wittinger threw the ball in from the touchline just north of the corner flag, York flicked it on from an uncontested spot at the near post and the ball went up and over the pile of players in front of the goal and then settled inside the opposite post.

That was the lone goal of the game and Pascack Hills, the No. 14 seed, saw out some nail-biting moments down the stretch to grab a 1-0 upset win over No. 3 Cresskill on the same field on which its season ended last year in the sudden death round of penalty kicks.

When his team grabbed the lead with still over half an hour to play, Pascack Hills head coach AJ Aliprantis fought the urge to turtle up. As a result the next 15 minutes or so was a wild back-and-forth with Cresskill pushing hard for the equalizer and the Broncos counterattacking at every opportunity.

"If you pull it back too early it just becomes having to deal with offensive waves for the other team and you are then just fighting a defensive battle the whole time and anything can happen," said Aliprantis. "I felt like we were playing well in the formation that we were in, so I stuck with it as long as I could, pulled on back toward the end and that helped us close it out."

Cresskill had one of the best seasons that is possible for a Group 1 girl soccer program in the modern era. The Cougars won a league title, qualified for the Bergen County Tournament and, when they lost in the opening round there, they dropped into the Bergen Invitational Tournament and won it, beating Indian Hills, a Big North Conference school, 1-0 in the final. Cresskill was 18-2 and earned the homefield advantage in the state tournament opener, a major factor considering that the Cougars play on one of the few remaining real grass fields in Bergen County.

Pascack Hills, on the other hand, came into the game sporting a 5-10-1 record, but one that was built predominantly against a bruising Big North Conference schedule. That type of experience could only help in the diverse North 1, Group 1 bracket with contains a mix of schools from the small school NJIC (8), NJAC (6) and the two from the Big North, Pascack Hills and Indian Hills, a finalist in the bracket last season and the No. 7 seed this year that beat North Warren, 1-0, on Wednesday.

"We are pretty battle-tested. Our league is not easy, so sometimes records can be decieving a little bit," said Alaprentis. "This is a tribute to these girls working hard all season and sticking with it because when you don't have a lot of wins to show for the work you put in it can get tricky with the mental game. They stuck it out and did an amazing job tonight."

It's not like Cresskill was a paper tiger. The Cougars are a talented side and also an aggressive one that became even more so after falling behind. In the second half they created plenty of nervy moments for Regan Hickey, Pascack Hills' freshman goalkeeper.

Emmi Chon headed down a corner kick that was cleared off the line in the 45th minute. Elaine Kim had time to line one up from the 18 and got off a shot that finished just wide of the left post in the 57th minute. Zoe Lee took on every defender she could find on a bull run into the box with 7:50 to go in regulation before her shot finished high of the mark and Cresskill earned a free kick inside the final 40 seconds, but the direct kick from 25 yards out in the middle of the park was knocked down by the Broncos wall.

Shortly thereafter, the final whistle blew and Pascack Hills was off to the quarterfinal round where it will visit No. 6 Kinnelon, a 2-0 winner over Emerson, on Saturday in Kinnelon.

"It was a rough game. It was physical, a lot of pushing but we knew what we were getting coming into this game. We lost to them last year and we really wanted to avenge that loss," said Pascack Hills junior Keira Hickey. "We had the motivation and now we want to keep that going."

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