Defense guides Knights to first sectional crown
By: Justin Feil
WALL In the winter, Regina Potter will be one of the top returning players for the West Windsor-Plainsboro North girls’ basketball team.
But the Northern Knights junior isn’t quite ready to shelve her soccer cleats for her high tops.
"Not yet," said Potter, who did her best to prolong the Northern Knights’ fall soccer season by helping them win their first sectional title in the five-year program’s history with a shootout victory at Wall on Thursday.
Potter, goalkeeper Amy Hashem and the defense kept the top-seeded Crimson Knights scoreless through regulation and two overtime periods of the Central Jersey Group III title game before four WW-P North players connected on penalty kicks for a 4-2 win in the shootout for the No. 2 seed.
"We had some mistakes," Potter said, "but we came back strong. We did well when we got under pressure.
"I thought going into the game we had a good chance of winning. Once you saw the level that we were playing at, our confidence level went up."
In the shootout, it was Lauren Lentine who deposited the game-winner to set off the Northern Knights’ celebration, but Potter was among the numerous heroes to ensure that the game went that long. While the North offense struggled to find the back of the net despite a host of chances, the defense was able to clear several of Wall’s best potential runs.
"Our defenders are studs," said WW-PN head coach Kevin Mackenzie after his team improved to 15-2-1 going into the today’s 2 p.m. state Group III semifinal at Neptune against Moorestown. "They’re big, they’re fast, they’re strong. They work well together. They don’t lose 50-50 balls. And when other teams do break through, Amy has been so good in goal. They pressured us well, but we didn’t give up a lot of good opportunities to them."
The North offense had plenty of chances to end it in regulation and overtime, but every shot was a few inches off this way or that way. With just under six minutes left in the first half, Suzanne Haggerty had a breakaway attempt denied by a sliding Wall goalie Cara Critchlow. Haggerty had another chance with 8:15 left in the second half off a feed from Jessica Carnevale but again couldn’t find enough foot to score it. Lentine had the best chance when Critchlow and Haggerty went down in a heap and Lentine put her shot right into the fallen goalie.
In the second overtime, Emily Grato struck a ball as well as any shot all day, but it was just tipped by Critchlow over the crossbar with 3:50 left. With 1:05 to go, Shannon Bulk’s shot hit the outside of the left post. Potter had a clear view of several of the Knights’ best chances when she moved forward to take the throw-ins.
"I got more and more frustrated," Potter said. "We had a lot of chances. Nothing went in. It was a very intense, aggressive game too."
Pressure built with each successive minute of the scoreless game. Hashem was able to pounce on two of Wall’s best chances in the second half for two-thirds of her three saves. She also stopped Wall’s first chance in the shootout and the Northern Knights never trailed.
"Amy’s been huge for us all year," Mackenzie said. "If Amy doesn’t come up with that save, I don’t know if we have the confidence to stick those other penalty shots. But she made the great save and every other girl stuck it in to keep putting pressure on them."
After Lauren Eccleston’s miss, Erika Mitos scored the first for the Northern Knights, Rachel Trick had the second before Wall’s third shooter fired high well over the crossbar before North’s Jessica Carnevale netted one for a 3-1 advantage to set up Lentine’s final kick.
"Walking up to that line was nerve-wracking," Lentine said. "My stomach was aching. I was so nervous.
"Towards the beginning of the season, I was missing a lot of shots wide or over," she added. "Mr. (Vince) Maggio worked with me and I got more confidence. There’s always pressure on you. Knowing Amy was saving all their shots helped me."
On the sidelines, Potter and her WW-P North teammates were confident in Lentine, and their confidence was rewarded when she deposited a shot high in the right corner for the school’s first sectional crown.
"It’s nice," Potter said. "It’s a good feeling."
WW-P North doesn’t want the good feelings to end there. The Northern Knights take on a Moorestown team today that topped the South Jersey III second seed, Lacey, before stopping top-seeded Ocean City in the final. Already, the Northern Knights have taken some giant steps for the program.
"Early in the year, I didn’t quite see that championship swagger," Mackenzie said. "But as they went on, they saw that they can play with the Steinerts and Hopewells, the teams that have done it every year. I challenged them at halftime of the Princeton game. I really let them have it. All of a sudden, they started picking it up. Now they do believe it. You all have to believe you can come in here and win before it happens.
"Getting past Princeton twice after losing so many times helped," he added. "Beating (WW-P) South for the first time last year. Those were big wins. That showed us this is a step we can get to."
Mackenzie and the Knights actually gained confidence when the game went to overtime. Even in the years when the program was still growing, WW-P North has been good in extra time.
"These girls, they’re incredible," Mackenzie said. "In overtimes, we’re like 10-1-1. So I felt real good about it. We’ve always performed well in overtime."
It was getting there that seemed harder, especially with an offense that was misfiring on the game’s best chances.
"It’s been like that all year," Mackenzie said. "We’ve been successful because we generate a lot of chances. They were very aggressive, very tough. There was not a lot of open space. Their goaltender was really outstanding. For a while, I was thinking that we better hope to get into overtime. I was proud of how we finished. To win it this way is incredible."
It’s a team that has players who have been through a lot, from losing seasons to the death of Diana Rochford two years ago. Mackenzie always believed this season could be something special. The CJ III championship on top of a Colonial Valley Conference Patriot Division title just confirmed it.
"I’m so proud of this team," Mackenzie said. "Our goal was to win a championship. Now they’ve brought us two."
The second one, the sectional crown, was big. It kept the Northern Knights on the field, and Regina Potter’s mind off basketball for a little while longer.