No. 1 Ridge tops Colts Neck for Group III title First trip to state final for Cougar girls BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Colts Neck’s Michele Fazzari and Suzanne Witkowski converge on the ball during the Cougars’ Nov. 22 loss to Ridge at The College of New Jersey. When the Colts Neck girls soccer team looks back on the 2003 season, there will be more than enough winning moments to erase their season-ending 4-1 loss to Ridge in the Group III state championship game. The 20-win season (20-2), along with a pair of championships (Shore Conference B Central and Central Jersey Group III) and a thrilling shoot-out victory over Lacey in the Group III semifinal, will more than offset the loss to undefeated Ridge (22-0) in the state final on Nov. 22 at the College of New Jersey. However, something more important than a first-ever trip to the state championship game for the girls happened in 2003. The Cougars learned the value of being a team in every sense of the word. "We’ve gotten closer to each other," senior co-captain Michele Fazzari said after the state final. "You can’t get this far being an individual. You need a team." That one-for-all and all-for-one attitude has been with the Cougars since day one of the pre-season, and has carried them into school history as the first team to win a state sectional title and first to advance to a state final. "I told the girls to seize the moment," said head coach Dave Irvine. "It was great feeling getting here, but it had to come to an end." The Cougars will not be second guessing themselves over the results of the state championship final. They simply ran into a buzz saw named the Ridge Red Devils, who more than lived up to their No. 1 ranking the state. Irvine had no doubt who is the state’s best. "They play like a college team," he said. "They are extremely disciplined, tactically and technically. There’s talent all over the field. This team is a notch above everybody." Colts Neck faced a similar daunting task in its semifinal against No. 3 ranked Lacey. There, the Cougars were able to neutralize the Lions’ speed advantage by moving midfielder Meighan Kelly back to defense to mark Lacey’s offensive catalyst, Traci DePasquale. Her ability to shadow DePasquale helped slow the Lion attack and raise the Cougars’ confidence. They believed they could play with the South Jersey and Shore Conference champions. Colts Neck would advance to the state final, beating Lacey in a shoot-out after they played to a 0-0 tie. The Cougars were looking to do the same against the Red Devils, hang with them early and try to seize the momentum. However, in Ridge the Cougars were facing a squad with frightening overall team speed. There was no one player to mark. They could generate their offense from anywhere on the field. The Red Devils had the Cougars chasing them the entire first half. Sometimes — especially in a state final — teams don’t take advantage of their strengths and finish plays. But Ridge wasn’t one of those. Just 15:29 into the game, Alexa Koken capitalized on a breakaway to give Ridge the quick 1-0 lead. Just 1:15 later, a blast from Melissa Seitz made it 2-0, and the Cougars were reeling. The Red Devils, led by Erika Taylor, Tobin Heath, Lauren Stoller and Seitz, kept the Cougars on the run after that early barrage, attacking from everywhere. It looked like the Cougars were going to keep it at 2-0 going into halftime, when a hand ball led to a penalty kick. Holly Musso buried the PK at 36:52, and Ridge was even more in control, 3-0. Fazzari said Colts Neck was too timid at the start of the game. "Their talent didn’t beat us — it was their intensity," said Fazzari. "We didn’t have enough intensity in the first half." Ridge kept the pressure on in the second half, scoring at 7:18 on a put-back by Taylor. Colts Neck avoided the shutout in the 70th minute on a goal by Lindsey Allerton. The play began on a restart kick by Fazzari, who serve up a perfect ball in the goal box that Allerton headed into the upper corner, giving the Cougars something positive to take away from the final. The state playoffs were a two-week run for the Cougars, and they enjoyed every minute of the ride that had the school and community solidly behind them. "Everyone’s eyes were on us," noted Fazzari. "It was good to have so many fans support us." Notes... Colts Neck was trying to duplicate the run that Art Collier’s boys had in 2000 when they won the Group I state championship at Kean University. Colts Neck’s boys joined Howell (1972) and Freehold Township (1982) as the only teams from the Freehold District to win state championships.Colts Neck is just the second girls team to make the state final. Freehold Borough, which Colts Neck defeated for the Central Jersey title, reached the Group II state final in 2001. Freehold Borough (1997 and 2000) and Manalapan (1999) were the only teams until Colts Neck to have won girls sectional state championships.