11/8/2008 - Other Side of Cinderella
It wasn’t supposed to end this way.
That epitaph has been inscribed on many a gravestone of seasons that came to a dramatic and unlikely ending for teams with high aspirations come state tournament time.
And never has the sudden finality of state tournament play, and the cruel way it toys with people’s emotions, been more evident than this past week for three of the best teams in their respective sports in the Sussex County Interscholastic League.
Sparta’s boys soccer team, Pope John’s girls soccer team and the High Point field hockey squad all came into postseason play with one goal, and that was a section title, but it was not to be as all three were upset at home shattering their championship dreams.
If I have said it once, I have said it a million times, there is no such thing as a lock in high school sports because you are dealing with kids, not professionals. But that is not to say when a team that has all the ingredients for a deep run in the state tournament falls short, it is not shocking.
Remember, for all the great Cinderella stories we love to tell in sports, there is a flipside—the team that lost. Yes, we love a great underdog story in America and the people in the sports media salivate at the chance to tell them.
From “Rocky” to “Hoosiers,” Hollywood also loves when the favorite is knocked down and a new hero emerges.
But there was no Hollywood ending for the three teams I mentioned and that is shame because the student-athletes and coaches in all three programs deserved a better fate. But just like the time-worn sports cliché, “That’s why they play the games.”
Sparta’s boys soccer team lived up to and met all the expectations placed upon it throughout the regular season and the first-ever SCIL Soccer Tournament. The Spartans cruised through the regular season, which included impressive non-league wins over Delbarton and Morris Catholic.
But Sparta faced it first real adversity toward the end of the season when it got hit with the injury bug with feisty striker Travis DiDiego and wonderfully talented midfielder Kyle Plifka suffering injuries and missing most of the county tournament.
The Spartans were also without their top scorer, Evan Bernat, who had to sit out the SCIL tourney after receiving a controversial red card in the Spartans’ win over Pope John in the final game of the regular season.
But the Spartans showed tremendous character and resolve and knocked off Newton 2-0 to win the tourney despite having three starters out. Senior Vinny Cinotti was a man amongst boys in the final, scoring two goals off two great headers.
Now, the second-seeded Spartans were geared up for a run at their first North 1, Group 3 title since 1995 as Bernat, DiDiego and Plifka would be back for Roxbury in the section quarterfinals.
A healthy Sparta squad, many, including myself, felt could do some great things in the states and possibly bring home the SCIL’s first-ever soccer state title. But No. 7 Roxbury, which came into the game playing its best soccer of the season, overcame a 1-0 deficit and pulled off a 2-1 win.
Amid the rain and the mud at Sparta High School, the Spartans’ season came to a heartbreaking end. The team that had been perfect all season had its first hiccup and it cost them dearly. The team finished with a 17-1 record, but that lone loss will always haunt the seniors. Hopefully when they reflect on the season, they will appreciate what they accomplished, including winning the team’s seventh straight SCIL crown.
So just as the shock of Sparta’s loss was still kicking in, the very next day across town, Pope John’s girls soccer team was ready to win its second match of the North Non-Public A tournament after blowing out Roselle Catholic in the first round.
Just like the Spartans, the third-seeded Lions had been a dominant force in the SCIL regular season and tournament and had their sights set on possible playing with the Big Dogs in the section, Immaculate Heart Academy and Pingry.
But the Lions (18-3) ran into a talented and defensive-minded DePaul squad which kept hanging around and forced the game into overtime knotted at 0-0. And in that OT, the No. 6 Spartans knocked off the Lions with a Golden Goal for a stunning 1-0 win.
The PJ players were understandably distraught, but seniors Stephanie Barbulescu and Emily Carollo were all class after the game, saying they were happy to have played a role in the Lions’ amazing run of four straight SCIL crowns. But it still didn’t take the sting out of the bitter defeat.
The rough week for SCIL schools started last Monday when second-seeded High Point, which was eying its first North 1, Group 3 section banner since 2002, completely outplayed No. 7 Montville in every facet of the game, but fell in OT 1-0.
The Wildcats (16-4) out shot the Mustangs an amazing 29-6, but here is the real shocker and the story of the game—High Point had FIVE goals called back. That’s right, five.
High Point coach Bev Keur has been around the sport for over 30 years and she told me that she was never been involved in a game in which five goals were called back. Incredible.
But just like the other two teams, the bitter loss does not take away what the Wildcats accomplished in Keur’s first year back to coaching after stepping aside for health reasons right before the start of the 2004 season.
Although it probably doesn’t help now, the players and coaches should be proud of the fact that their programs were held in such high regard that beating them was considered a big deal.
And these programs aren’t going anywhere, either, no matter where they end up in the newly-formed Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference. Andrew Lowery has over 320 wins at Sparta, Ryan Barbulescu of Pope John, who told me he will back next season despite his daughter Stephanie graduating in June, has notched 86 wins in just five seasons, while Keur has 259 victories and owns the only state title in field hockey in SCIL history.
So as the postseason steams on remember there are always two sides to a Cinderella story. It might not be as sexy, but it would be a disservice not to recognize how the team that was bumped off put itself in the position of being the favorite.
That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines
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