LEBANON TWP. -- Warren Hills field hockey team will try to gain every advantage it can when it comes to playing nemesis Voorhees. Even if it means leaving the friendly confines of home for practice sessions.
In preparation for Saturday's Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex semifinal on the grass, coach Laurie Kerr and her Blue Streaks utilized the bumpy grass field at the middle school. Whatever works.
Junior midfielder Nikki Profita popped in the go-ahead goal as fourth-seeded Warren Hills posted a 2-1 victory over second-seeded Voorhees to advance to the championship game. In the other semifinal, No. 5 seed Hackettstown earned a 4-3 victory in overtime against No. 3 Hunterdon Central in Raritan Township.
Next Saturday's title game between the Streaks (13-3-1) and Tigers (11-5) will be held at a site and time to be determined, most likely the neutral turf field at North Hunterdon. Warren Hills won its only on-field county championship in 2011 after sharing the '09 title with Newton because the final was never played due to conflicting schedules.
"This was really nice," said Profita, whose team was on the other end in last year's semifinals following a 2-0 loss to Voorhees. "They beat us last year on our home field, so it was nice to beat them on their home field."
Beating Voorhees (13-4) on any field has been difficult over the years for the Warren County school, which avenged a 2-1 loss in overtime here with an impressive 4-1 win at home in the second regular-season meeting between the Skyland Conference rivals on Oct. 3.
The red-hot Streaks have won 10 in a row -- outscoring their opponents 35-2 during that stretch as the Vikings scored both of the goals given up by a stout Warren Hills defense. Sophomore goalie Taylor Austin has really come through in big games and made three crucial saves in this one, as the Streaks negated a late penalty corner with no time left on the clock.
"We have a strong defense," said Kerr, now 9-17-3 all-time against Voorhees in her 14 seasons. "[Junior back] Amanda Oberly is a first-year starter and she was outstanding today, along with [junior back] Amanda Crampton and [sophomore back] Rachel Phillips, who is such a weapon on corners."
Voorhees still holds a 30-19-6 in the all-time series, but has dropped four of the last six meetings. The Streaks, now 2-5 in county games vs. their Hunterdon rivals, have won two meetings in the same year in back-to-back seasons, something they've only done five times since the series began in 1975. The others were in 1975, '79 and '81.
Profita's go-ahead goal came with 11:53 left in the second half. Younger sister, Dani, a talented freshman forward, started the drive near midfield and drove the ball into the circle. Voorhees goalie Lauren Pianucci, who was outstanding in the cage with nine saves, made a nice initial stop on Dani Profita, but the Streaks fired off several shots before Nikki Profita popped the ball into a wide open cage for her 10th and biggest goal of the season.
"I took a shot three times and [Pianucci] saved it. When it went in, I started crying. It was so emotional," Nikki Profita said. "It's been a crazy year. We've been playing against a lot of tough competition. I love these games. This is such a rivalry. There's a lot of pushing and throwing elbows. We don't like each other, but we make each other better."
Voorhees, which had won five in a row and was seeking its third trip to the finals in the tournament's five-year history after winning it all in 2012, dominated much of the first half, but trailed, 1-0, after junior forward Sydney Muntone picked her own rebound off Pianucci's pads and fired it into the cage for her team-leading 15th goal with 16:59 left in the first half. Muntone was forced to leave the game with 8:36 left in the half when she was struck in the mouth with a ball, causing a loose tooth. She returned in the second half and finished the game.
Sophomore forward Emma Garcia tied the game by redirecting a drive from sophomore forward Kathryn Roncoroni near the right post with 6:45 left before the break. Despite seven penalty corners in the first 11 minutes, the Vikes had only one goal to show for it after a very intense and well-played first 30 minutes by both teams. The Hunterdon County school was short-handed without senior forward Ashley Kerekgyarto (wrist) and second-half goalie Kathryn Boyce (hamstring) and twice played short-handed in this one after two players received cards for not being five yards back on defense.
"I thought we came out with more intensity and we had them on their heels," said third-year Voorhees coach Taylor Webb, now 3-5 in this series. "I thought we played well, but we needed to score on the opportunities we had and keep the momentum going. If we could've got a second goal on the board, it might have been a different story. In the second half, [Warren Hills] connected on a few more passes and it opened the field up for them, making it harder to defend."
Kerr offered the same assessment of the Streaks' play in the first half.
"The first half, we did not come out with as much confidence as we needed to," the coach said. "The second half, we had more intensity and we weren't hesitant."
"We've always been a second-half team," Nikki Profita said. "The grass is different for us. We practiced [this week] on a field a thousand-times worse to prepare us for this game."
Warren Hills (13-3-1) 1 1 -- 2
Voorhees (13-4) 1 0 -- 1
Scoring
First half -- WH, Sydney Muntone, 15th, 16:59; V, Emma Garcia, 6th, (Kathryn Roncoroni), 6:45.
Second half -- WH, Nikki Profita, 10th, 11:53.
Shots -- Warren Hills 14; Voorhees 5.
Saves -- Taylor Austin 3, Amanda Oberly 1 (defensive) (WH); Lauren Pianucci 9, Emily Scheier 1 (defensive), Tori Crans 1 (defensive), Hannah Ryan 1 (defensive) (V).
Penalty corners -- Warren Hills 8; Voorhees 12.
In the other semifinal:
Hackettstown 4, Hunterdon Central 3 (OT) -- Senior forward Michelle Carlson connected for the winning goal -- her 10th of the season -- off a feed from senior forward Kalie Thies with 2:23 left in overtime to move the Tigers into their first county title game since winning their only Hunterdon-Warren championships in 2004 and '05. Hackettstown beat Warren Hills, 3-2 in overtime, in the '04 final.
Thies had two goals and the assist on the game-winner, while Carlson scored twice as the No. 5 seed posted an overtime win on strokes over No. 1 seed South Hunterdon in the quarterfinals.
Junior forward Taylor Barrett scored a goal and had an assists for the Red Devils (14-4), who were bidding for their first county finals appearance since 2007. Central, which won H-W titles in 1989, '94, '96, '99 and 2003, has never played in a HWS final.
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