WW-P South girls shock No. 1 seed

History repeats for soccer team

By: Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
  Cinderella has a Pirates patch.
   No, it’s not some twisted Halloween outfit, but as traditional as trick-or-treating is the nearly yearly state tournament upset by the West Windsor-Plainsboro South girls’ soccer team.
   This year, the Pirates pulled off their biggest upset yet. The 16th seeds topped No. 1 seed East Brunswick, 1-0, on Megan Voigtsberger’s goal with one minute left in the Central Jersey Group IV opener Monday.
   ”I don’t really remember what happened,” said the Pirates senior. “I was open in the middle. I took a shot. I missed a shot earlier in the game. I wasn’t thinking when I shot it.
   ”I was really happy. I haven’t really scored a lot this year. It was a good time to get one.”
   In 2005, it was Steinert that suffered its first loss to a Colonial Valley Conference team in two years at the hands of the Pirates, who were then a sixth seed, to reach the semifinals.
   In 2004, as the No. 11 seed, they beat No. 6 Hillsborough, 2-1, in double overtime on Voigtsberger’s first career goal as a freshman. Now three years later, she provided another huge one Monday.
   ”I feel like I save my goals for the important time,” said Voigtsberger, who bounced back from a torn ACL suffered in February to begin this season. “This game is up there. It was a pretty important one.”
   But nothing new for the Pirates. In 2003, as a No. 14 seed, they beat No. 3 Rancocas Valley, 1-0, then beat No. 6 Sayreville before falling in two overtimes in the CJ IV semifinals. In 2001, as the 15th seed, they topped No. 2 North Brunswick.
   ”We have a history of being a spoiler,” said Pirates head coach Chris Miller after her team advanced to play No. 8 Jackson in a match scheduled for Thursday. “I’m thrilled.”
   While WW-P South knocked off No. 1, Manalapan could not do the same to No. 2. Montgomery advanced to play No. 7 Hunterdon Central on Thursday with a 4-0 win over Manalapan on Monday. Marcia Voigt had a goal and assist and Brianna Miller had a pair of assists as the Cougars improved to 18-2-1.
   WW-P South improved to 9-6-2, with five of its losses coming by one goal, and their ninth win coming against a one-loss East Brunswick side.
   ”I have to credit the Colonial Valley Conference,” Miller said. “Our conference prepares us. We go against Steinert, Hightstown, Hamilton who’s had a good year, and (WW-P) North. None of them are easy games. They really help you. And I have to credit the girls. They want to win every time they go out to play. They don’t goof around. They know when it’s time to play.”
   For seniors like Voigtsberger, there is no time like the present. It is their final chance to go for a sectional title that has eluded the Pirates since they won it in 2000, with a shootout win over East Brunswick. Monday’s win over East Brunswick was a good start toward a run.
   ”Today’s win, it felt really good,” said South senior captain Kira Mangone, the anchor to a defense that did not allow a goal in front of Liz Huttner, who made 11 saves. “Just knowing we were the last seed and we beat the first seed, that alone was great. It was great to know we could do that. That in comparison to Steinert a couple years ago, I don’t think anything will top that.”
   Mangone stopped a breakaway attempt, then saw as East Brunswick had two goals disallowed in the final five minutes of the game. The first came when Huttner punched the ball over the crossbar, but it hit the football goalpost and came back into play. The second came when Huttner’s legs were taken out after she made a save. The final minute seemed to take longer after the Pirates scored.
   ”They had them both taken away,” Mangone said. “We were frantic about not letting them score.”
   The Pirates gained confidence as the game went on from playing evenly against the top seed.
   ”We were really nervous going into today’s game, but thought since there was nothing to lose, we had to go all out,” Mangone said. “Everyone kept mentioning the Steinert game a few years ago and we said, why not.
   ”Everyone was ecstatic and really pumped for our next game. I couldn’t have asked for anything better than this our senior year.”
   The Pirates looked to keep their upset streak going. As the 16 seed, they are, by record, an underdog against any CJ IV team they could face.
   ”As long as I don’t lose anyone,” Miller said, “I think we can compete. I think we have a chance against Jackson. When we bring our A game, everyone should be afraid.”