The last thing any team on Voorhees' schedule wants is for the Vikings to gain a little momentum.
Well, that's exactly what Voorhees has following Thursday's 2-1 win in an overtime thriller against Skyland Conference rival Warren Hills in Glen Gardner. Forward Antoinette Metzler scored both goals, including the game-winner with 5:30 left in OT.
Voorhees (6-2 overall, 5-2 Raritan Division), ranked third in the Open Mike area, avenged a 1-0 loss to No. 1 Warren Hills (10-1, 7-1) five days earlier. The Vikings are now 28-15-6 all-time against the Blue Streaks and 16-5-3 against them since 2000. It was the third game in the last seven meeting to need overtime.
"This was a good game both ways and it's always a good game against Warren Hills," said first-year Voorhees coach Taylor Webb, who was 3-0 against Warren Hills as a star center midfielder for the Hunterdon County school in the early 2000s. "Today was no different."
Metzler and Kat Francis teamed on the winning score as they both converged on Warren Hills goalie Katie Wintersteen. Francis, a former goalie converted to the forward line, sent a nice cross pass to Metzler, who sent the ball rolling past Wintersteen and into the left corner of the cage.
"It's just a great feeling," said Metzler, a starter on last year's team that defeated Warren Hills three times. "It's definitely a huge rivalry."
Voorhees lost seven starters from a year ago and Webb is still mixing and matching her lineup to find that right combination.
We made a few adjustments [on offense] that were successful," Webb said. "Antoinette is so consistent, she really gets the job done."
Voorhees nursed a 1-0 lead for just over 25 minutes after Metzler's first goal, a nice shot from the top of the circle. Goalie Kimmie Pianucci, who was outstanding in the victory, made it hold until Warren Hills senior Whitney Kowski converted off a penalty corner with just 13 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime.
Kowski, a staunch defender, has really stepped up on the offensive end this season with four goals and five assists through 11 games. The momentum clearly shifted to the Blue Streaks to start the seven-a-side overtime, but the Vikings responded in a big way.
"After they scored, we had two options ... go out and go hard," Metzler said. "We played Voorhees field hockey and got the job done."
"It was unfortunate to give up that goal with such little time left in regulation play," Webb said. "But playing with the lead they were almost allowed to make a mistake and they had a chance to make up for it, and they did."
Similarly to the first meeting last Saturday, Warren Hills dominated play in the first half before Voorhees rallied in the second 30-minute session. Metzler said that playing so well at the end of the loss gave her team plenty of confidence heading into the rematch.
"It was a big boost for us," Metzler said. "I think it put us in the right state of mind."
Warren Hills coach Laurie Kerr saw her team finish with overwhelming edges in shots (18-6) and corners 15-2), yet the Streaks came up short in their bid to become the program's first squad to sweep both regular season meetings in this rivalry since 1981.
"We had our opportunities, but you have to make them count," Kerr said. "We've got to learn to finish. [Pianucci] is a really good goalie and she made some really nice saves. But I thought she held onto the ball too long and a few [penalty] strokes should've been called. We had the ball behind her three times in the first half alone."
Pianucci, who recorded a season-high 17 saves, might have made her finest stop with 15:20 left in the second half. Warren Hills scoring ace Lindsey Schott made a perfect cross pass to freshman left wing Sydney Muntone at the top of the circle, but Pianucci came up and stuffed the play.
Schott, who is her school's all-time goals leader with 61, also fed freshman forward Nikki Profita in front on a breakaway earlier in the half, but Pianucci denied that chance as well.
"We can't let Lindsey Schott have the ball in front of me and we have to make sure people are marked," said the Columbia University-bound Pianucci. "I try to not let them get shots off because [Warren Hills] has a lot of power shooters, not just Lindsey. I'm an aggressive goalie, that's just how I play."
Pianucci agrees that this victory may be a huge turning point in the Vikes' season.
"This is a huge boost to our morale," she said. "We left everything on the field today. The last thing I wanted to happen [was allowing the tying goal]. But we made up for it in overtime. This is huge for us."
Warren Hills (10-1, 7-1) 0 1 0 -- 1
Voorhees (6-2, 5-2) 0 1 1 -- 2
Scoring
Second half -- V, Antoinette Metzler, 2nd, (Taylor Irving), 25:19; WH, Whitney Kowski, 4th, (Niki Miller), 0:13.
Overtime -- V, Metzler, 3rd, (Kat Francis), 5:30.
Shots -- Warren Hills 18; Voorhees 6.
Saves -- Katie Wintersteen 4 (WH); Kimmie Pianucci 17 (V).
Penalty corners -- Warren Hills 15; Voorhees 2.
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