It's hard to say if records were meant to be broken this quickly.
Nonetheless, senior forward Darby Smith wasted little time in smashing two school marks that stood for nearly 15 years.
Smith scored five goals to become High Point's all-time leader and added the career points mark to the list as the Wildcats rolled to a 7-1 win over Vernon on Thursday in a Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference clash at Vernon Township High School's Anthony Macerino Stadium.
High Point (1-0 overall, 1-0 American Division), which has won five straight in this series since a 2-0 loss to Vernon in the 2010 season finale, lost 13 seniors and eight starters from last year's squad which won its second straight division title and reached both the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex and North 1, Group 3 finals. But Smith -- after scoring 25 goals last season -- picked up right where she ended 2011.
With 53 career goals and 120 points, Smith surpassed former standout Lesley Dube's totals of 50 and 112. Dube led High Point to sectional titles in 1996 and '97.
"I'm very excited. It's amazing. When I came in as a freshman, I wasn't even thinking about [breaking the records]. To achieve this feels great," Smith said. "[Dube who teaches at High Point] and I were joking around with each other. She said to me [at school on Thursday], "Are you breaking my records today?"
Shattering those records is more like it.
Veteran coach Bev Keur was extremely pleased -- and a bit surprised -- with her team's total domination in the season opener. The win boosts her career win total to 312 in 22 seasons.
"We're rebuilding and we had a tough go in our first couple of scrimmages," said Keur, whose strategy of dropping Smith back behind the forward line paid big dividends. "I'm so pleased with how they're learning the game. Today I was most pleased with our passing."
The 'Cats jumped all over the Vikings early -- connecting for their first goal just 1:55 into the contest. Sophomore Tierney Clark connected for the first of what she hopes is many more goals off a feed from Smith and senior Maureen Gill. Just over 12 minutes later. Smith gave the visitors a 2-0 lead on a corner -- a one-timer off the insert pass from junior Carly Satter that found the left corner of the cage. Satter, who emerged last season on the front line, had two assists and spearheaded that great passing attack that impressed Keur.
Gill, who scored a hat trick in High Point's 6-1 win over Vernon here in 2011, made it a three-goal advantage when she scored on a corner. In all, the 'Cats scored three times on penalty corners, as they finished with a 13-1 edge in that category.
"Our corners were really working today," said Gill, who now has five career goals against the Vikings. "I hope we can do this every time [we play]. This is a brand new team and we knew we had to step up. I'm so proud of all the girls."
Smith connected for the first of four second-half goals with 27:57 left in the second half. The record-breaker came unassisted with 20:25 left. In between, senior forward Rachel Colvin, Vernon's goals leader with 24 last year, got the Vikings on the board 5:10 seconds into the final half.
"Our corners were spot-on," said Smith, now with eight career goals against Vernon. "Last year, we were pretty rusty [on corners]. We've been working hard on them in practice. To come out and play as good as we did opening day was absolutely amazing."
Defensively, new High Point goalie Erin Williams didn't get much of a test as she faced just four shots all day. On the other end, first-year Vernon goalie Clara Mikaeil was pretty solid despite the number of goals allowed. Mikaeil made a number of outstanding saves and the score could have been much worse if not for her play. Back Regina Incarnato, a first-year varsity starter, also had a solid game for the Vikes.
High Point (1-0, 1-0) 3 4 -- 7
Vernon (0-1, 0-1) 0 1 -- 1
Scoring
First half -- HP, Tierney Clark, 1st, (Darby Smith, Maureen Gill), 28:05; HP, Smith, 1st, (Carly Satter), 15:50; HP, Gill, 1st, (Satter), 13:34.
Second half -- HP, Smith, 2nd, 27:57; V, Rachel Colvin, 1st, 24:50; HP, Smith, 3rd, 20:25; HP, Smith, 4th, 7:55; HP, Smith, 5th, 6:20.
Shots -- High Point 19; Vernon 4.
Saves -- Erin Williams 3 (HP); Clara Mikaeil 12 (V).
Penalty corners -- High Point 13; Vernon 1.
In other action:
Voorhees 3, Phillipsburg 1 -- Sophomore Hannah Ryan scored what proved to be the decisive goal midway through the first half as the Vikings opened with a home victory -- their 16th straight opening-day win and their 11th in a row over the Stateliners dating to 2007. Voorhees' last loss in an opener was 1-0 in double-OT to Belvidere in 1996. Junior Ashley Kerekgyarto and freshman Kathryn Roncoroni also scored goals. Senior forward Katie Decker connected for P'burg in the Skyland Conference Raritan Division contest.
Warren Hills 2, Montgomery 1 -- Sophomore forward Jessica Nissen and senior center midfielder Niki Miller scored to lead the Blue Streaks in their home opener. Miller's second-half score, which made it 2-0, was the difference as Warren Hills led 1-0 at the half. Amanda Crampton and Nikki Schott recorded assists and goalie Katie Wintersteen made three saves.
Hunterdon Central 4, Ridge 3 -- Senior forward Nicole Barrett scored a pair of second-half goals to lift the Red Devils in their season opener in a Skyland Conference Delaware Division clash in Basking Ridge. Junior forward Carissa Benedickson and junior midfielder Ally Baligian staked Central to a 2-0 lead in the first half before the hosts came back to tie it.
Sparta 3, Morris Hills 2 -- Senior forward Lauren Hunt deposited the shot heard round Sparta with three seconds left in the second half to give the Spartans an opening-day win in an NJAC American Division matchup. Ally Matchett and Maggie DePaul also converted goals. The win snapped the Sussex County school's 20-game losing streak dating to 2010 -- when it finished 2-15-1 -- and gave Kristin Savasta a win in her coaching debut. Sparta's last game without a loss was a 1-1 tie against Pope John on Oct. 19, 2010. Its last win was a 3-1 triumph over North Warren on Oct. 2, 2010. Sparta was 0-16 in 2011 and scored only two goals.
Pope John 1, Montville 1 (OT) -- Senior forward Rachel Spetz connected off a feed from Beth Dauer in the second half to help the Lions earn a draw in their opener in an NJAC American Division contest. Kelsey Sullivan and Sam Scalabrini combined for seven saves in PJ's first game under veteran coach Gina DiMaio. The Lions lost twice to Montville in 2011.
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