Girls soccer: New Jersey's Immaculate Heart defeats Albertus Magnus in double-overtime
BARDONIA - While all other Lower Hudson Valley teams were off for the holiday, two of Prep Soccer's top-40 nationally-ranked teams — Albertus Magnus and New Jersey's Immaculate Heart Academy — squared off in a contest that certainly lived up to the billing on Wednesday night.
The clash featured plenty of close calls, exciting plays and good defensive stops. In the end, Immaculate Heart broke the stalemate early in the second overtime period to win, 1-0.
"They had us on our heels for a good 50 to 60 minutes of that game," Immaculate Heart coach Eric Pfeifer said. "I'd say the back end of the second half, the girls finally settled down. I thought defensively, we were stellar in the second half and that changed the game for us. It gave us the ability to get on the ball a bit more and then in the midfield, we were able to control ourselves."
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Both teams had their scoring opportunities but between both back lines maintaining their composure, and both goalkeepers performing at a high level through the rain and elements, it remained a scoreless bout.
"Maybe they were a bit nervous going into the game, because we haven't had that big of a team to play against, but second half they realized we're just as good as them, so there was no reason to be shaky," Albertus Magnus coach Danny Samimi said. "As the game went on, we really wanted it. ... Both goalkeepers played unbelievable. They both had some amazing saves that kept their teams in the game."
The Blue Eagles broke through with 8:51 remaining in the second overtime period. Alex Barry ripped a shot that ricocheted out, and Caitlin Forshay followed up with the game-winning shot on the rebound.
She came through in a big spot on her birthday, making the moment even sweeter.
"I was at the top of the box and I was like, 'I'm either gonna get it here or I'm gonna get that rebound, because it's the rain and it's the goalkeeper's worst nightmare so I'm gonna get that rebound,'" Forshay said of her game-winning play. "As soon as I saw the keeper take it to the ground, I was like, 'This is my time.' I just ran and hoped I got to the ball. Got to the ball, stayed calm and composed and just placed it. Double-overtime, nothing feels better."
What it means
While this has no direct bearing on either team's championship aspirations, it was a valuable measuring stick for the Blue Eagles and Falcons to face off against a high-caliber opponent. Immaculate Heart will look to defend its NJSIAA Non-Public A state title later this fall.
As for Albertus Magnus, it's determined to get back to work after losing its first match and allowing its first goal of the season. The Falcons have sectional and state championship aspirations in NYSPHSAA Class A. The Falcons have another big nationally-ranked test coming up on Saturday, when Long Island power St. Anthony's comes to town.
"They're really upset, this is our 12th game and we hadn't conceded a goal in 11 games, so they have to figure out how to deal with that," Samimi said. "But, the message was that we can learn from this individually and collectively, but reminding them of our goal — to win the section and the state — and that hasn't been taken from us. We'll show up tomorrow ready to work and get back at it."
Player of the game
Noelle Haskell, Immaculate Heart: Both keepers were impeccable, but Haskell made some huge saves to keep it a scoreless match and give the Blue Eagles a chance to win. She finished with 10 saves in the shutout victory.
By the numbers
Immaculate Heart Academy (9-2) — Birthday girl Caitlin Forshay netted the game-winner off of a rebound on a shot by Alex Barry. The Blue Eagles have now won four straight.
Albertus Magnus (11-1) — Falcons goalkeeper Aubrey Haesche also impressed and had eight saves. Albertus Magnus had the advantage on corner kicks, 7-3.
They said it
"It was a great experience for our girls, in Section 1, we haven't had too hard of a time," Samimi said. "We had a couple of tough games where the girls had to work a little bit harder, but this is like another level and the girls were challenged. Obviously not the result we wanted, but it was good. We can learn from this. We've got St. Anthony's on Saturday. At the end of the day, our goal is to win the section and the state, so this game doesn't impact that at all."
"A lot of the kids know each other because they play club together, so it's fun that way," Pfeifer said. "For coaches, we look at it as a chance to work on us. We purposely went into this game saying we're not going to talk about the other team at all, let's just come out there and play our game. It's been a long time all season for us as a coaching staff telling them all season to play our game. In hotly contested games like this, we've gone away from our game, so it was nice to have that self-confidence and self-belief to just keep the ball on the ground and make the simple decision and they did today, it was nice."
Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Girls soccer: Immaculate Heart downs Albertus Magnus in OT
