LEBANON TWP. -- The look that Kathryn Roncoroni had was so good that it admittedly made her nervous.
Staring down at a wide open cage, the sophomore forward composed herself and fired a laser shot that lifted Voorhees to a thrilling 2-1 win in overtime against Warren Hills on Tuesday in the 53rd meeting between the Skyland Conference Raritan Division field hockey rivals.
Roncoroni, who scored the game's opening goal, broke loose on the left side in the seven-aside overtime and dribbled into the circle. Warren Hills goalie Taylor Austin came up a little too far and Roncoroni rifled the ball into a wide open left corner of the cage.
"The girls got the ball down to the right spot and I pulled it over to an open area," said Roncoroni, who leads the Vikings with 11 goals this season. "Once I got into space, I started shaking. I was every excited."
Voorhees (4-2, 4-0 Raritan Division), which was coming off a tough 2-1 loss in overtime against South Hunterdon on Saturday, rebounded nicely to take control of the division, won by Warren Hills in 2011 and '12.
The Vikes, who hold a 30-17-6 edge in the all-time series dating to 1975, have won the last two meetings and five of the last eight dating to 2010. The greatest rivalry in all of Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex has been decided in overtime seven times since 2004 and the teams have played OT at least once in five of the last eight seasons.
"Just your typical Voorhees-Warren Hills matchup. That was exciting," said third-year Voorhees coach Taylor Webb, now 3-3 against Warren Hills as coach after going 3-0 against the Streaks as a star midfielder for the Vikes in the early 2000s.
Warren Hills (2-2-1, 2-1), which was coming off a 2-1 loss to 2012 Group 2 champion Bishop Eustace on Saturday, seemingly had everything going its way late in regulation and early in the sudden-victory OT.
Junior forward Jessica Nissen tied the game at 1 with 7:50 left in the second half off a nice stick-to-stick feed from junior midfielder Nikki Profita that Nissen deposited into the left corner for her second goal of the season.
In OT, Voorhees was forced to play with only six players when sophomore Emma Garcia received a yellow card for a high stick. Warren Hills was unable to take advantage and didn't even manage a shot or serious threat on goal.
Instead, Roncoroni and her teammates went on the attack and scored just minutes after the yellow card. Ironically it was the Blue Streaks who rallied a player down in the second half to score their game-tying goal, when midfielder Rachel Phillips was hit with a yellow card near the 10-minute mark.
"I think what happened to us is, we felt the need to play outside of ourselves and pick up the slack," Webb said. "[Warren Hills] did and they scored a man down. I think when you're a man down your team gets more aggressive because you feel threatened. You play better and we did."
Roncoroni and the Vikings responded best with their backs against the wall. Playing a tough early-season schedule, with games against state power West Essex and conference foe Montgomery, have kept this team sharp for key games. It also was a big boost for an offense that has produced 19 goals in six games after scoring that many in the final 13 games combined last season.
"This was a very big win for us," Roncoroni said. "Since we're rivals, we were all very excited to play Warren Hills. They are a very good team. "We stepped up to the ball, because we knew we had to get to the ball before [Warren Hills] did."
Blue Streaks coach Laurie Kerr was disappointed that her talented team, which went to the Group 3 final a year ago and is picked by most to return to the title game, didn't do what it does best as a strong offensive unit.
"I've been disappointed with the passing all season. Our passing is off," said Kerr, now 7-18-3 against Voorhees in 14 seasons at the helm of her alma mater. "I've never coached a team coming off a 22-win season that doesn't have confidence. When we start playing as a team things will click. We haven't done that yet."
Roncoroni gave Voorhees an early 1-0 lead when she popped one in with 20:57 left in the first half. First-half goalie Lauren Pianucci was virtually untested as Warren Hills managed just two shots on goal in the first 30 minutes. Sweeper Emily Scheier had a strong game on defense, including a nice goal-line save in the opening half.
The Streaks did a better job of moving the ball in the second half, but once again the Vikes thwarted a golden opportunity for the visitors when second-half goalie Kathryn Boyce made a diving stop on what looked to be a certain game-tying goal early in the final 30 minutes.
But as the game wound down, it seemed like only a matter of time before a potent Warren Hills offense would cash in, as it did on its sixth shot of the second half.
"It's hard to keep a team of [Warren Hills'] caliber down 1-0," Webb said. "It's very hard to do. I wasn't surprised it went to overtime. Keeping them scoreless is very hard."
Scheier, who was shifted to the sweeper spot that has long been a coveted position for Voorhees teams, helped anchor a very tough defense. The Vikes have lost one starting back for the season, so they're still mixing and matching in the backfield. In addition, midfielder Tori Crans moved to center forward and helped spark the offense.
"[Scheier] was super. She made some big stops for us," Webb said. [Abby] Flagler and [Isabelle] Houser played fearless defense. Tori distributes well and Kathryn [Roncoroni] finishes. They're a nice 1-2 punch."
Voorhees will next travel to Delaware Valley on Thursday for a divisional game, while Warren Hills travels to Somerville the same day before hosting Bridgewater-Raritan in a big cross-divisional showdown on Saturday.
Warren Hills (2-2-1, 2-1) 0 1 0 -- 1
Voorhees (4-2, 4-0) 1 0 1 -- 2
Scoring
First half -- V, Kathryn Roncoroni, 10th, 20:57.
Second half -- WH, Jessica Nissen, 2nd, (Nikki Profita), 7:50.
Overtime -- V, Roncoroni, 11th, 5:29.
Shots -- Warren Hills 8; Voorhees 5.
Saves -- Taylor Austin 3 (WH); Lauren Pianucci 1, Kathryn Boyce 5, Emily Scheier 1 (goal line) (V).
Penalty corners -- Warren Hills 10; Voorhees 6.
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