Scholastic Notes

Tri-State region

PENNSYLVANIA

SOUDERTON UPSET BY UNIONVILLE

Much can happen when the PIAA District 1-AAA Tournament gets underway. It's one of the largest of the district tournaments, which play down to a proportional number of qualifiers for the state tournament.

District 1-AAA is notoriously prone to upsets, which occurred to Souderton (Pa.), as it lost to 26th-seeded Unionville (Pa.) 3-2 in overtime.

Unionville scored a mere 27 seconds into the contest, but let Souderton back in with a pair of quick Becca Chylak tallies before The U tied it in the 33rd off the stick of Katelyn Laffey.

It wasn't until the 67th minute of play until a winner was decided: a Kristin Brownett rebound goal.

“I thought that they were fast to the ball,” Souderton coach Mary Ann Harris tells The Doylestown Intelligencer. “They had good stick work. They kept their stick on the ball really well. I think we lost to a really good team today, but we really didn't connect with our passes; we didn't go to the ball. It's a shame.”

NEW JERSEY

COUNTY TOURNAMENTS GONE ... MILD?

The usual collection of FA Cup-style knockout tournaments has come and gone, and many of the resultant finals were strangely reminiscent of the past.

Take, for example, the Mercer County Tournament, which saw, for the fifth year in a row, Allentown (N.J.) meeting Princeton Stuart Country Day School (N.J.) in the championship.

Though the two teams were the same, there was a significant difference on the sideline. Katie Grant, one of the few scholastic field hockey players ever to have recorded a 50-goal season, is the first-year Stuart coach. Her development as a college player at Duke was influenced by 1996 Olympian Liz Tchou as well as the tactician Beth Bozman.

Not surprisingly, Grant helped her team with a master tactical stroke: not calling a timeout after Allentown's Kasie Nurko leveled the score 1-1 in the 51st minute of play.

"I thought it best to let them continue to play," Grant tells The Trenton Times. "People have said -- and I used to hear it all the time as a player -- after they score is when they are most vulnerable."

Indeed, just 33 seconds after the Redbird goal, the Tartans earned a free hit in a dangerous position, one which Caroline Passante deflected into the goal cage for a 2-1 win.

"We caught them on their heels and took ad vantage of it," Grant tells The Times. "To me, it's like, 'Why can't you guys score in 30 seconds all the time?'"

Up the river in Phillipsburg, Beth Stocker managed similar tactical genius in the Hunterdon/Warren Tournament final for Glen Gardner Voorhees (N.J.), in looking for its third straight HWT final against Flemington Hunterdon Central (N.J.).

With the Vikings tied 1-1 with their Skyland rivals at the interval, Stocker inverted wingers Lauren Goracy and Colleen Boyce, and made some midfield shifts. Voorhees held Central to one shot in the second half, allowing Tori Symonds' late goal to give the defending champs a 2-1 win.

"We looked great and played great in the second half," Stocker told The Bridgewater Courier-News. "The second half was just awesome to watch."

More than one county tournament had familiar foes in the final. The Somerset County Tournament featured Martinsville Pingry School (N.J.) and Bridgewater (N.J.), playing the final for the third straight season.

Olivia Shelton's 32nd-minute tally was the difference for the Big Blue in a 1-0 win over Bridgewater.

"It was huge to get the lead," Shelton told The Newark Star-Ledger. "But in our heads we played like it was 0-0 and we wanted to get another one."

The Essex County Tournament final featured North Caldwell West Essex (N.J.) against familiar nemesis Montclair (N.J.). But Ali Cassera opened the Knights' account on eight minutes, and it held up under all sorts of Montclair pressure as Wessex ran out 3-0 winners for their fourth ECT title in five seasons.

"We were really pumped for this game because we had been reading about how much Montclair wanted to win it and take our title," Cassera told The Star-Ledger. "We didn't want them to gain any type of confidence so we came out hard."

The overtime period beween West Long Branch Shore Regional (N.J.) and Ocean Township (N.J.) featured a dramatic conclusion. Marguerite Chavez used her pace to put away a breakaway in the 65th minute to give Shore its ninth straight Shore Conference Tournament. It also gave Shore head coach Nancy Williams her 699th career victory.

"With 7-on 7, anything can happen," Williams tells The Asbury Park Press. "I thought at the end we had a little bit more left in our legs. This is what we were hoping to do: get a through ball and get Marguerite onto the ball. We couldn't get the her ball earlier because they closed down on her in regulation."

Almost equally dominant in tournament play has been Summit Oak Knoll (N.J.), which had won the Union County Tournament eight out of the last 10 seasons. And thanks to Michelle Cesan's 65th minute goal, Oak Knoll took a 2-1 win over Clark Johnson Regional (N.J.)

"It was so frustrating," Cesan tells The Newark Star-Ledger. "Every time I would get a shot, their goalie would stop it, but I stayed with it. I was able to get a good angle and a good shot. It was perfect timing."

Madison (N.J.) Borough has been equally dominant in the Morris County Tournament, winning its 14th championship with a 3-1 win over Morristown (N.J.). Rachel Misko's double gave the Dodgers not only the win, but momentum as it seeks a deep run in the state tournament.

"It was really exciting to be here and to be able to participate," Misko tells The Star-Ledger. "We're happy when anyone scores because it's a team effort. Everyone contributed. To win this is great and this is amazing to be on this team right now."

One county champion in 2007 had a different road than most; Pompton Lakes (N.J.) had not won the Passaic County Tournament since 2003, even though the program had won this particular knockout tournament on 13 previous occasions.

Kerrie Izer provided the needed impetus, breaking a second-half tie as Pompton Lakes ran out 4-1 winners over Wayne Hills (N.J.).

"This is an incredible feeling, especially for the seniors," Izer tells The Star-Ledger. "We haven't won a county title since I've been here, and knowing the tradition at Pompton Lakes and what a great coach we have, this was something we really wanted."

But perhaps the one team with the most joy after winning their in-season tournament had to have been Monroe (N.J.), which won its first tournament in recorded program history with a 1-0 win over Metuchen (N.J.). Saahithi Karuturi had a second-half goal for Monroe.

"It's been a crazy ride," junior Nicole Manziano tells The Home News-Tribune. "We've been up and down, we've had our differences, then the past month and a half we've let that all go. We've connected with each other, our passing has been great, we've been talking a lot more — it's just been great."

FITHEN GIVES SCOTTIES HOPE

Kim Fithen came back to coaching a decade after leaving Hightstown (N.J.) to start a family. She found a Bordentown (N.J.) team which had only two victories the previous season, but quickly rebuilt the Scotties to a point where they could beat anyone on any given day.

And for Bordentown, "Any Given Day" turned out to be Sept. 17 against New Egypt. Ashley Bronston's goal in the 48th minute was the difference.

For last year's notes, click here.