Voorhees' field hockey team has always been known for its tough defense. It also has a long history of being tough on archrival Warren Hills. History repeated itself again on Saturday.
After dropping both regular-season meetings, Voorhees turned the tables with a stunning 2-0 victory in a Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament semifinal on the turf at Warren Hills Stadium in Washington.
"This is huge," said second-year Voorhees coach Taylor Webb, who won two county titles as a star midfielder for the Hunterdon County school. "Last year we beat them [2-1 in OT in the second meeting], but this is an even bigger upset."
Voorhees (11-4-1), ranked third in the Open Mike area, advances to its second HWS final -- beating Warren Hills for the title in 2010 -- and the program's 17th county tournament final overall dating to the first year of the former Hunterdon-Warren Tournament in 1985. The Vikes won a record eight H-W titles before adding a HWS crown in 2010.
The other semifinal between High Point and Hunterdon Central, originally slated for Saturday, will be played on Monday due to poor field conditions at the Wantage school. The championship game is set for Saturday, Oct. 27 at Hackettstown High School. Start time is 2 p.m.
No. 1 Warren Hills (16-2) was denied in its bid for back-to-back HWS titles. Coach Laurie Kerr's 2011 team won the program's only on-field title with a 3-1 victory over High Point. The Blue Streaks, who had won three of the last four meetings, are now 17-29-6 all time against the Vikings, including a mark of 7-17-3 during Kerr's 13 seasons at the helm of her alma mater. Voorhees is now 6-1 -- 2-0 in HWS -- against its rival in county games.
Still, no Warren Hills team has ever beaten Voorhees three times in one season -- Streaks went a combined 2-7-1 in three or more meetings in 2003, '06 and '08 -- a fact that wasn't lost on Webb.
"Beating any solid team three times is hard -- so [Warren Hills] had that working against them a little bit," said Webb, now 2-3 as a coach in the series. "Our defense was on today and we played like we can play."
Freshman Kathryn Roncoroni scored both of the Voorhees goals -- the first just minutes into the game off a penalty corner. She added another in the first half for a commanding lead and the Vikes never looked back. Goalies Lauren Pianucci and Kathryn Boyce combined for their ninth shutout.
Roncoroni, who recently made the move from forward to midfielder, has been a catalyst for an offense that sorely needed someone to step up and take charge. She leads the Vikings with 11 goals and has scored six in the team's last four games -- all wins.
"We [moved her to midfield] because we need her on the ball," Webb said. "She makes things happen. The first goal was huge and it shocked [Warren Hills]."
The defense, which has yielded 14 goals all season and just three in the last five games, also neutralized a talented Warren Hills forward line anchored by UMass recruit Niki Miller and her team-leading 18 goals and 21 assists. The speedy Miller was kept off the board for only the third time this season. Webb said another key to the victory was keeping Blue Streaks junior midfielder Nikki Schott out of the equation.
"We put Kathryn on [Schott's] side of the field," Webb said. "They had moments of momentum that were concerning and [Warren Hills'] corners are very impressive."
It was hard for even Webb to explain the turnaround from losses of 2-1 and 3-0 this season to a very talented Warren Hills team that won the Skyland Conference Raritan Division championship and has its sights on the school's first Group 3 title. The Streaks came into this one riding a 10-game winning streak after a 3-1 loss to Bridgewater-Raritan on Sept. 22.
"The first game we were hit or miss, and the second game we had a bad first half," Webb said. "This time we stepped up to the ball and were aggressive. We didn't let the Warren Hills forwards get to the ball. I think we were more consistent across the field."
Voorhees (11-4-1) 2 0 -- 2
Warren Hills (16-2) 0 0 -- 0
Scoring
First half -- V, Kathryn Roncoroni, 10th, (Sara Diacik), 27:39; V, Roncoroni, 11th, (Tori Crans), 7:30.
Shots -- Voorhees 8; Warren Hills 8.
Saves -- Lauren Pianucci 4, Kathryn Boyce 4 (V); Katie Wintersteen 6 (WH).
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