The surprising playoff run for Rumson-Fair Haven's girls soccer team e

    By - Scott Clayton - Senior Staff Writer

    WASHINGTON TWP. - As if the prospect of facing one of South Jersey's toughest girls soccer teams in the Group II semifinal was not a tough enough task for Rumson-Fair Haven, Mother Nature threw in one little wrinkle to up the degree of difficulty on Tuesday night. Playing with limited visibility on a fog-shrouded field at Washington Township High School, the Central Jersey Group II champion Bulldogs fell, 3-1, to the South Jersey Group II champion Bulldawgs of Haddonfield Memorial.
    St. Joseph's University-bound midfielder Maggie Lupinski (three assists) and a rotating cast of dangerous forwards made the most of Rumson's struggles controlling the wet ball that skittered across the artificial grass. After winning a sectional title in a shootout last Friday, after entering the tournament as a No. 4 seed, Rumson-Fair Haven's spirits were not overly dampened.
    "It was pretty crazy with the fog," senior forward Hope Atkinson said. "You couldn't see from one side of the field to the other. I definitely think the other team was just winning more 50-50 balls and controlling play, but it's great to at least have a sectional title."
    Haddonfield advances to the Group II final at the College of New Jersey, where it will face North Jersey Section 1 champion Pascack Hills on Saturday.
    Haddonfield got the jump on Rumson from the opening whistle, getting on the board in the seventh minute as Lupinski found Emily Grabiak, who finished off her teammate's cross with a goal.
    "It was just a really great cross and a good follow-up," Rigby said.
    Haddonfield tried to further take advantage of the conditions by firing off from long-distance. Rigby (11 saves) made a spectacular stop in the 14th minute, punching a Lupinski blast from 30 yards out off the crossbar and corralling the rebound.
    "They had really hard shots and combined with the weather, that made it difficult to catch," Rigby said. "I just tried to keep it out of the net. That's why there were some punches over the crossbar, because I thought that was the safest option."
    Rigby would again deny Lupinski in the 18th minute, but the forceful senior continued to find ways to get her teammates into the act. Lupinski helped make it 2-0, sliding a pass that defender Lauren Perkins was able to blast with her left foot into the lower-right corner of the goal in the 15th minute. Rumson-Fair Haven, meanwhile, was held without a shot on goal in the first half. Its best opportunity came with 11 minutes to play, when Atkinson slid a through ball into the box that Haddonfield keeper Frances Nicoletti was able to run onto before junior forward Celee Belmonte.
    The Bulldogs found their offense early in the second half, putting together three scoring chances in the first five minutes after the break, but coming away empty-handed each time. Haddonfield, meanwhile, took advantage of its opportunities. Lupinski was unchallenged winning a header off a Leigh Ann Torcivia goal kick and sent the ball right back upfield in the 51st minute, where sophomore Kathleen Jordan was able to split a pair of Rumson defenders and unleash a strong shot into the upper-right corner of the net as she was falling to the ground.
    The Bulldogs would avoid the shutout, however, thanks to sophomore midfielder Amanda Yaccarino. Yaccarino won a battle for a loose ball in the box and beat Nicoletti from a tough angle at the right of the goal to put Rumson on the board with 17:04 to play.
    "Actually the defender got the ball, but I stole it back from her," Yaccarino said. "I went through and she got it back again, but I just stuck with it and then I just shot it and it went right in. Our goalie was doing great and everyone was doing great and it made it one step better than it was. It was unfortunate that we had a loss, but having it not be a shutout made it one step greater."
    "They are an outstanding program," Rumson-Fair Haven coach Mary Beth Tukis said of Haddonfield, "but I'm very proud of our girls. Words can't describe the feeling of this run we've had. We had high hopes for this season and we lived up to them."
    "The entire season everyone thought we would lose. No one thought we'd get this far and we proved them all wrong," Rigby said. "That was our goal: to prove everyone wrong and we did that."

Box Score
Haddonfield 3, Rumson-Fair Haven 1

Scoring: (H) Grabiak (Lupinski) 7'; (H) Perkins (Lupinski) 15'; (H) Jordan (Lupinski) 51'; (R) Yaccarino 63'.
Shots: Haddonfield 18-5.
Saves: (H) Nicoletti 4; (R) Rigby 11.

E-mail: clayton@digitalsports.com.

LOST IN THE FOG

The surprising playoff run for Rumson-Fair Haven's girls soccer team ended Tuesday with a 3-1 loss to Haddonfield in a Group II semifinal.

Published: 11/13/2007

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LOST IN THE FOG The surprising playoff run for Rumson-Fair Haven's girls soccer team ended Tuesday with a 3-1 loss to Haddonfield in a Group II semifinal. Published: 11/13/2007 By - Scott Clayton - Senior Staff Writer WASHINGTON TWP. - As if the prospect of facing one of South Jersey's toughest girls soccer teams in the Group II semifinal was not a tough enough task for Rumson-Fair Haven, Mother Nature threw in one little wrinkle to up the degree of difficulty on Tuesday night. Playing with limited visibility on a fog-shrouded field at Washington Township High School, the Central Jersey Group II champion Bulldogs fell, 3-1, to the South Jersey Group II champion Bulldawgs of Haddonfield Memorial. St. Joseph's University-bound midfielder Maggie Lupinski (three assists) and a rotating cast of dangerous forwards made the most of Rumson's struggles controlling the wet ball that skittered across the artificial grass. After winning a sectional title in a shootout last Friday, after entering the tournament as a No. 4 seed, Rumson-Fair Haven's spirits were not overly dampened. "It was pretty crazy with the fog," senior forward Hope Atkinson said. "You couldn't see from one side of the field to the other. I definitely think the other team was just winning more 50-50 balls and controlling play, but it's great to at least have a sectional title." Haddonfield advances to the Group II final at the College of New Jersey, where it will face North Jersey Section 1 champion Pascack Hills on Saturday. Haddonfield got the jump on Rumson from the opening whistle, getting on the board in the seventh minute as Lupinski found Emily Grabiak, who finished off her teammate's cross with a goal. "It was just a really great cross and a good follow-up," Rigby said. Haddonfield tried to further take advantage of the conditions by firing off from long-distance. Rigby (11 saves) made a spectacular stop in the 14th minute, punching a Lupinski blast from 30 yards out off the crossbar and corralling the rebound. "They had really hard shots and combined with the weather, that made it difficult to catch," Rigby said. "I just tried to keep it out of the net. That's why there were some punches over the crossbar, because I thought that was the safest option." Rigby would again deny Lupinski in the 18th minute, but the forceful senior continued to find ways to get her teammates into the act. Lupinski helped make it 2-0, sliding a pass that defender Lauren Perkins was able to blast with her left foot into the lower-right corner of the goal in the 15th minute. Rumson-Fair Haven, meanwhile, was held without a shot on goal in the first half. Its best opportunity came with 11 minutes to play, when Atkinson slid a through ball into the box that Haddonfield keeper Frances Nicoletti was able to run onto before junior forward Celee Belmonte. The Bulldogs found their offense early in the second half, putting together three scoring chances in the first five minutes after the break, but coming away empty-handed each time. Haddonfield, meanwhile, took advantage of its opportunities. Lupinski was unchallenged winning a header off a Leigh Ann Torcivia goal kick and sent the ball right back upfield in the 51st minute, where sophomore Kathleen Jordan was able to split a pair of Rumson defenders and unleash a strong shot into the upper-right corner of the net as she was falling to the ground. The Bulldogs would avoid the shutout, however, thanks to sophomore midfielder Amanda Yaccarino. Yaccarino won a battle for a loose ball in the box and beat Nicoletti from a tough angle at the right of the goal to put Rumson on the board with 17:04 to play. "Actually the defender got the ball, but I stole it back from her," Yaccarino said. "I went through and she got it back again, but I just stuck with it and then I just shot it and it went right in. Our goalie was doing great and everyone was doing great and it made it one step better than it was. It was unfortunate that we had a loss, but having it not be a shutout made it one step greater." "They are an outstanding program," Rumson-Fair Haven coach Mary Beth Tukis said of Haddonfield, "but I'm very proud of our girls. Words can't describe the feeling of this run we've had. We had high hopes for this season and we lived up to them." "The entire season everyone thought we would lose. No one thought we'd get this far and we proved them all wrong," Rigby said. "That was our goal: to prove everyone wrong and we did that." Box Score Haddonfield 3, Rumson-Fair Haven 1 Scoring: (H) Grabiak (Lupinski) 7'; (H) Perkins (Lupinski) 15'; (H) Jordan (Lupinski) 51'; (R) Yaccarino 63'. Shots: Haddonfield 18-5. Saves: (H) Nicoletti 4; (R) Rigby 11. E-mail: clayton@digitalsports.com.
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