Phillipsburg's field hockey team is moving on in the postseason. But the disappointing end a year ago is what's fueling the Stateliners this time around.
Senior midfielder Cassie Fortuna got sixth-seeded Phillipsburg on the board in the second half as it scored three unanswered goals to defeat No. 11 North Hunterdon, 3-1, on Wednesday in the opening round of the North 1, Group 4 playoffs at the Phillipsburg Athletic Complex.
Phillipsburg (8-10) advances to meet No. 3 seed Westfield on Monday in a rematch of last year's quarterfinals. The 'Liners won that one, 5-0, before posting an 8-1 win over Vernon in the semifinals. However, P'burg was ruled ineligible for the championship game after playing too many regular season contests.
"We're using [last year's ending] as anger to fire us up," said junior right wing Katie Decker, who scored the go-ahead goal against North Hunterdon with 19:08 left in the second half. "We have confidence that we can [win the championship]."
It was also the first postseason win for rookie coach Jennifer Paulus, whose team is seeking the Warren County school's fifth sectional title and first since 1999. The Stateliners also won sectional crowns in 1972, '77 and '98.
"This feels sweet," said Paulus, who previously served as an assistant under former coach Carrie Saul. "This is great, but we're taking it one game at a time. That's the motto. I told [the team] not to underestimate North Hunterdon. Records and stats, that stuff is irrelevant. The team that comes ready to play has the advantage going in."
North Hunterdon (2-15), which scored a 1-0 win over Phillipsburg in a regular-season meeting last year, was hoping to end a disappointing season on a high note. Coach Stacy Ditze's Lions played an inspired first half and led 1-0 at the break on sophomore midfielder Emily Baldwin's first goal of the season. It was North's seventh goal as a team this season and snapped a three-game scoreless streak.
The Hunterdon County school wasn't even expecting to get into the playoffs, but the 13-school section was expanded to include sub-.500 teams.
"Our conference [Skyland] is so strong that it prepares you to play in the state tournament," said Ditze, whose 2010 team lost a first-round heartbreaker on strokes to Randolph. "We're young, but we had our chances [against Phillipsburg]. The majority of our team is sophomores and juniors. This was a great experience and next year they'll be ready to go."
P'burg stormed out of the gate in the second half, as Fortuna hooked up with Gabby Morena to even the game at 1 with 21:42. The goal came off a penalty corner, one of 13 in the game for the 'Liners.
Decker followed with her seventh goal of the season just under three minutes later, when she found the right corner of the cage to make it a 2-1 advantage.
"Right before I missed a pass and I wanted to get the next goal," Decker said. "It was a beautiful pass [from junior Molly Zgoda] and that got us pumped up. We came out strong in the second half."
Senior forward Priscilla Howell iced things with her 11th goal of the season off a feed from senior right inner Lauren Nunes with just over a minute left to play. Goalie Brittany Lavin made two second-half saves to preserve the win.
"We told [the girls] at halftime that they had a tremendous opportunity and they capitalized on it," Paulus said. "We've had [close] games like these too may times this season. We were not playing like this team plays [in the first half]. We were panicking. When we get it going, we have an excellent passing game. And when we're on, we're on."
Phillipsburg's defense, which is all new from a year ago, held North Hunterdon to only three shots-on-goal, two in the second half.
North Hunterdon (2-15) 1 0 -- 1
Phillipsburg (8-10) 0 3 -- 3
Scoring
First half -- NH, Emily Baldwin, 1st, (Rachel Longenecker), 17:14.
Second half -- P, Cassie Fortuna, 5th, (Gabby Morena), 21:42; P, Katie Decker, 7th, (Molly Zgoda),19:08; P, Priscilla Howell, 11th, (Lauren Nunes), 1:03.
Shots -- North Hunterdon 3; Phillipsburg 12.
Saves -- Felicia Heard 8, Michaela Martino 1 (defensive) (NH); Brittany Lavin 2 (P).
Penalty corners -- North Hunterdon 4; Phillipsburg 13.
In other state action:
Hunterdon Central 1, Hillsborough 0 -- Taylor Barrett scored off a feed from Nicole Barrett in the second half and goalie Fran Orella stopped five shots for her sixth shutout as the sixth-seeded Red Devils (11-9) blanked the No. 11 Raiders (4-12) in the North 2, Group 4 playoffs in Flemington. Central, which won only three games last year, advances to meet No. 3 East Brunswick on Monday. It was the Devils third win over Hillsborough this season, including a pair of overtime contests.
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