Surging Mahwah hands Pascack Hills its first loss by Jim McConville special to The Record
MAHWAH – Strength of schedule is always an interesting dynamic for sports teams. The harder the competition, the harder you have to work, but you also run the risk of not getting the results.
Mahwah took on a very strong schedule this season, and it turned into a 2-8 start that included a seven-game losing streak and a pair of heart-breaking one-goal losses at the back end of that streak.
They fought through the hard times and now the Thunderbirds are beginning to reap the rewards of the high-level competition. They have won three in a row, including a 15-5 win over previously undefeated Pascack Hills in the Bergen County tournament Round of 16 on Saturday.
“The last couple of years the schedule hasn’t been as tough and then when you see the better teams, they don’t react to the speed,” Mahwah coach Brian Girardi said. “With the losing streak, the doubt starts to creep in, but seeing that game speed, it’s a tough balance.
“Now, we’re comfortable in that kind of game and it showed today. Our spacing was much better and the passing was crisper.”
They made sure that the Cowgirls would not end their tournament run, going out to a 6-1 lead in the first 12 minutes of the first half. One reason was the draw control, where they won eight of nine in the first half.
Another was the solid passing the Thunderbirds (5-8) displayed. You could count on one hand the number of passes that did not hit the mark. Many were into the middle of the field and set up goals from in close.
“We knew coming into the season it was going to be tough,” senior Erin Jaffe said, “Playing those competitive games made us a better team and now we’re looking forward to what we can do in the county and state tournaments.”
Jaffe had five goals and one assist to lead the scoring, but she got plenty of help. Olivia Huss (4 goals, 2 assists), Haley Doran (3 goals, 1 assist) and Eliza McNamara (3 goals) pitched in, with Doran getting all of her goals in the first half.
Grace Anzano came into the game with a single assist on the season, but she racked up four against Pascack Hills (10-1) working from the top of the 12-yard box and finding the cutters.
“We’re all very unselfish players and when we’re looking for each other like that we get everyone involved and we’re not depending on one or two of us,” Jaffe said.
Girardi watched his team turn a 6-2 halftime lead into a 13-2 bulge 11 minutes into the second half to put the game away. They ended up winning 15 of 21 draw controls, as Jaffe was solid at the center and Brenna Jaffe won ground balls.
“During the losing streak we were turning the ball over a lot and not winning draws,” he said. “I think we finally started to come out of that against Saddle River Day (the streak-breaking win) and we played a pretty clean game today.”
Pascack Hills could have been in a much bigger hole at halftime had it not been for goalie Amanda O’Brien, who had 7 of her 11 saves in the opening period. Many of them were point blank.
Caitlin Ernest scored four of the five Cowgirl goals, giving her 54 on the season, and sister Allison had the other tally. Brooke Proietto made 9 saves for Mahwah, which next takes on Northern Highlands in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
NORTHERN HIGHLANDS 13, RIVER DELL 4 – The Highlanders not only moved on to face Mahwah, they saw a trio of milestones reached in the victory over the Golden Hawks.
Julia Bradbury led the way with six goals, including the 300th of her career. The senior added two assists and now has scored 44 goals on the season. Katelyn Ewell had three goals (including the 100th goal of her career) and Kaitlin Callaghan two for Highlands, which had a 9-2 lead by halftime.
The victory was also the 100th career win for head coach Mike Menzella and moves the Highlanders over .500 at 7-6 on the season.