MHS girls’ soccer wins state championship
By: Justin Feil
EWING There were plenty of small-sized championship T-shirts handed out to the Montgomery High girls’ soccer team Saturday.
The size of the shirts had nothing to do with the big effort the Cougars put in while tying Moorestown, 0-0, for the Group III state championship at The College of New Jersey’s Lions Stadium. Montgomery, though smaller player-for-player than the defending state champions, had the better scoring chances in the 100 scoreless minutes while stifling the Moorestown attack.
"We might be little, but we really have a lot of heart," said MHS head coach Jeremy Beardsley, whose team concludes its season 19-2-2 overall. "It’s the heart combined with the talent and a willingness to lay it on the line that got this result. It would be nice to be a little bigger and stronger, but I’ll take heart. I could have a lot of big girls out there, and if they don’t play like warriors, we’re not going to win any games. You have to have kids who are ready to play like warriors. I’m so proud of the way these kids play. I’m so proud to be their coach. It’s an unbelievable feeling."
The championship is the first for the Cougar girls’ soccer program. MHS lost the Group I state final in 1994. They had not been to a final in a long time, but lack of experience played no factor against the third-straight defending champion MHS had to play in its state tournament run. The Cougars knocked off defending sectional champion Ridge for the North Jersey, Section 2 Group III title, then topped Ramapo, a state Group III finalist, in the state Group III semifinals before meeting Moorestown.
"I think it speaks to the fact this is not a shot in the dark," Beardsley said. "This is not a one-hit wonder. This is a team and a program that is highly respected and will continue to have a lot of success, I think. We went through quality, quality teams to get here and that just kind of makes the whole experience rich."
MHS shook off the initial disappointed reaction to the tie to smile proudly as they were slipping on the green shirts that bear "2005 state champs" in yellow on the back. Being the first Cougar team to be able to don them helped them realize the magnitude of the accomplishment.
"It would be fun if we went to PKs and actually were able to finish it, but it’s still a great accomplishment and we’re happy to have gotten this far," said MHS sophomore Allie Slattery. "Montgomery hasn’t gotten this far in a really long time.
"As it came toward the end, especially in overtime, it seemed like we were so close. It was so frustrating. But we did the best we could so we’re happy to be state champs and share it with them."
Frustration was the more than a decade passing since the Cougars last played for a state title. Then, it was tiny Montgomery playing in a Group I final. Now, they’re tiny-sized MHS players enjoying a state crown.
"Even though we’re kind of small physically, we always got up and battled with them," Slattery said. "That’s how all the teams look compared to us."
Slattery is one of those MHS players on the small side who yet seemingly has more skill and determination in her pinky toe than some teams have in their entire midfield. Having been to and claimed the state final once, she expects to return though the Cougars will have to overcome some significant senior losses.
"We’ll be back. No doubts," Slattery said. "We’ll be back. Now we have the experience. Now we can say we’re the defending state champions. Even though we shared it, we still are. And we’ll be back.
"It’s always been a dream. I never imagined us being here. It’s an amazing experience. Hopefully we’ll get back to experience it again."
And next time, the Cougars are hoping to take sole possession of the championship. It might have happened Saturday were it not for several strong recoveries by Moorestown defenders and their goalie knocking away a brief breakaway chance.
"They’re almost deflated. I think that comes from they know they could have won it," Beardsley said. "I think everyone realizes here we can knock it around. At times we really looked exceptional. It just kind of didn’t work out at the very end. Sometimes that happens in the game of soccer. It just happened to happen tonight. There’s nothing wrong with it.
"We’re going to celebrate it not, as if, we are state champions. And we tied the defending state champions and we looked good doing it. They have a particular style. We dealt with that style and we got to our playing, which is very entertaining soccer and I was happy we were able to showcase that."
Added Slattery, "Moorestown was a really tough team. They’re really tough physically. We had to battle to keep up with them, but I think we stayed with them and had the better of the play."
Moorestown tried to muscle the smaller Cougars, but MHS countered with its technical wizardry. Moorestown’s attack never did get behind the Cougars while the Cougars were able to generate their best chances late in the game.
"I think the next couple hours and the next couple days, I think they’re going to realize we really played our pants off," Beardsley said. "A lot of people watched this game and know what we’re all about. Even talking to their coach, I think they realize, we just played a very good team. It could have gone either way, but I think it could have gone more our way. I walk away from that feeling really good."
The Cougars walked away sporting new duds. The shirts were printed up before the game, though Beardsley never was told. Afterward, he liked the attitude it showed in his team that went 8-0-1 in its last nine games.
"That’s the other thing. We’ve had confidence for a long time," Beardsley said. "When you start to play with confidence, you start to really believe you can do anything. It’s very powerful. During this state run, we gave up one goal to Nutley in the last second. We really could have gone through this and not allowed a goal. That’s momentum. That’s working very hard to keep the team organized and focused.
"It’s momentum and the idea that we were coming on this turf and we weren’t just happy to be here. We wanted to win the whole thing and we did."
They have the shirts to prove it. Small they may be, but the shirts make a big statement Montgomery is the state champion.

