Well that was a crazy second round to the Bergen County girls soccer tournament.
Old Tappan upsets Mahwah.
Demarest sneaks by Paramus Catholic.
Ridgewood, Ramapo, River Dell and Ramsey survive tight tests.
Oh, and Northern Highlands conceded its first goal of the season.
Whacky stuff.
So what else happened of note and who’s playing who in the quarterfinals? Let’s break it down.
Biggest surprise?Â
Old Tappan taking out Mahwah isn’t a major surprise. They’re evenly-matched teams (a 0-0 draw in regulation and OT speaks to that) and once you get into penalty kicks it’s anyones game. But it was the biggest upset of the tournament so far (10 seed beating a 7) so you’d have to say that game was the biggest surprise.
Since losing back-to-back games to Demarest and Highlands, Old Tappan has gone 4-1-1 (its win over Mahwah officially counts as a tie in the record book). It’s starting to reach its potential at the perfect, with the second round of Division games coming up and the Bergen County and State tournaments after that. Could see them continuing this run in the division.
Biggest win?
Gotta believe it was Demarest over Paramus Catholic, 1-0 in double OT, which you can read about here. Not only did the Noresewomen lose to PC earlier in the season, 2-1, but this is also only the second time they’ve made it to the round of 8 in counties in program history. Add to that fact that they got the win in double OT on a stellar strike by Ariana Bresa and it solidifies their claim to the biggest win of the second round.
Had a chance to chat with Demarest coach Chris Eftychiou after the game about expectations taking on top-ranked Northern Highlands in the county quarters. His response? It’s an honor to play a team like that. He said Highlands players are some of the best in the nation and for his team to go up against them will be a great experience few are fortunate enough (if you can call it that) to get.Â
Tight surprises?Â
No. 3 Ramapo and No. 4 Ridgewood beat No. 14 Pascack Hills and No. 13 Glen Rock, respectively, 1-0, in regulation. No. 5 Ramsey needed penalties to get by No. 12 Paramus. No. 6 River Dell beat No. 11 Pascack Valley, 1-0, in overtime.  Do any of those tight wins surprise me? Not at all.
Pascack Hills and Glen Rock are very sound defensive teams that don’t beat themselves, so for Ramapo and Ridgewood to be held one goal in regulation is not a surprise, it’s likely the outcome they expected.
Ramsey had at least seven quality scoring chances against Paramus but Spartans goalie Nicole DiPasquale was outstanding in keeping them off the board. Paramus is also a grizzled team, having faced Northern Highlands, Ramapo, Ridgewood and a slew of other tough teams on their schedule, so no way they were going down easily.
As for River Dell v. Pascack Valley, that’s just two very evenly matched teams. Pascack Valley is a combination of the traits I mentioned above: sound defensive team that has faced some tough teams. River Dell has a few more offensive weapons, however, and that helped them break through in OT.
Biggest margin?Â
IHA beating Indian Hills 7-0 was the widest margin of victory for any team in the second round. Northern Highlands downed Park Ridge, 3-1, as the second widest. What’s interesting about that result is it was the first goal Highlands has allowed this year. The Owls scored their goal in the first half but Northern Highlands didn’t allow another shot on goal the rest of the game. That’s more like it.
What’s next?Â
Bergen County quarterfinalsÂ
Sunday at Indian HillsÂ
No. 2 IHA v. No. 10 Old Tappan, 11
No. 3 Ramapo v. No. 6 River Dell, 1
No. 1 Northern Highlands v. No. 9 Demarest, 3:30
No. 4. Ridgewood v. No. 5 Ramsey
We’ll get into these match ups later in the week.