River Dell and Mahwah have been playing each other for a few seasons now, despite being in different leagues. But thanks to the latest realignment, the two teams are now both in the Patriot Division of the Big North Conference. That also happens to be the deepest division in the Big North. Yeah, I know Northern Highlands and Ramapo are in the Freedom Division, I’m talking the deepest league. From top to bottom, there is not an easy game among the five teams. Four of the teams are ranked in The Record girls soccer Top 25.
Having played each other in recent years, the two teams had a built-in rivalry even before they became divisional rivals. Monday’s 1-1 draw reflected that kind of emotion. There was a lot of physical play and some of the rough play should have earned cards. But the style of play was just like previous games between the teams. Because both sides know they’re facing a good opponent, both teams seem to step it up on defense. The drawback there is it leads to an ugly game because neither team can string passes together and build an attack.
But if you’re a fan of defense and hard-fought games, you should have been at Mahwah Monday night for the 6:30 start (nice for fans, not so good for sportswriters on deadline). River Dell controlled most of the first half and had a few dangerous chances, most of which came via corner kicks taken by midfielder Frankie Maier. Just about every one of her corners turned into a potential scoring chance.
The Golden Hawks got on the board just before halftime on one of those corners. Maier delivered a corner that Mahwah goalkeeper Aly Burns appeared to grab just in front of the crossbar. As Burns came down with the ball, it popped free and Kayla McGovern poked it in about one foot from the goalline. Burns, of course, was furious, telling the referees she had possession of the ball and it was kicked out of her hands. She told me the same thing after the game. The refs discussed it, but let the goal stand.
Mahwah got the tying goal in the 65th minute, when sophomore Jackie Martinelli was rewarded for her hard work. Martinelli latched onto a defensive mistake and went in on goal, blasting a shot to the upper-left corner. I asked her after the game if she was shooting for a target or just trying to hit the ball as hard as she could. As I suspected, it was the latter. She just let it rip.
Martinelli was buzzing around the field all game — Mahwah coach Courtney Carrelha called Martinelli “My Energizer bunny,” which should give you an idea about how much she was running around the field. Martinelli is one of those players who seems to be everywhere and never gets tired. And, again, she’s just a sophomore.
“I learned the European style when I was younger. Quick possession and touches. Always quick to the ball and go in strong,” Martinelli said. “Once one person plays like that, more people want to play that way.”
The game did get nasty as it went on. I rarely criticize referees, but the duo at this game needed to be more proactive and cut down on the contact. Too many players — from both sides — were going to the ball looking for contact, rather than the ball. Whistles should have been blown more often and yellow cards should have been issued. Instead, players kept pushing the issue, and each other. A Mahwah player — I’m not going to say which one; she’ll know who she is – went so far as to respond with two-handed shoves on more than one occasion. Better referees would have shown her a red card after the first one. I’m talking straight red, not yellow, for shoving another player to the ground. It was amazing that not even a yellow was shown.