Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 40

Thursday, November 2, 1995 Asbury Park Press D5 A To Report Scholastic Scores iPI "Fl JL For Local Sports Scores Call 1-800-822-9770 IHlTMl Cft 61111 CaN Presst0 (908) 918-1000 Ext. 4418, 4422 IOHJlllVuJL(IUiy ILilUj Touch 8802 ri i. LI LI Manasquan caps dream season, wins Tournament of Champions Manasquan's triumph was doubly sweet By JON STEMMLE STAFF WRITER EDISON TOWNSHIP As the parents snapped pictures and the players celebrated, a tiny tennis racquet slipped from the hand of one of the tiny players on their trophy. That was the only flaw in Manasquan's dream season, as the Warriors captured the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament of Champions title with a 3-2 victory over Ramapo at the Inman Racquet Club yesterday. Manasquan's win capped a season in which the Girls Tennis Warriors also won the Kings Showdown, the Shore Conference and MANASQUAN RAMAPO 3 2 lies.

This win makes me feel a little better about the (NJSIAA) singles tournament." The first doubles team of Emily Patterson and Kristin Phoebus finished minutes after Haus, demolishing Lauren Richter and Michelle Wells, 6-0, 6-2, to give Manasquan a 2- 0 edge. Considering that Patterson and Phoebus had to rally from a 6-3, 5-2 deficit to win in three sets against Richter and Wells at the Kings Showdown, it makes yestef-day's win more amazing. "We were just really psyched the whole time," Phoebus said. "The last time (against Ramapo) we were regally down and we didn't want to go through that again. We knew we had to come here and win.

It helped us mentally knowing that we were the only team to beat them this season." "We can't always rely on the singles to win," Patterson said. "We had to do this for ourselves. Really, we had no excuse not to win since we had beaten them before." As Megan Crotty battled in a first-set tie-breaker at second singles and Laura Clancy and Jamie Schwier attempted a comeback after losing the first set at second doubles, Elisa DiFeo put the nail in the Ramapo coffin. DiFeo, who won a three-set match over Cherry Hill East in the TOC semifinal to clinch the victory, wasn't nearly as dramatic against Ramapo. The sophomore was broken in the first game of the match before running off nine consecutive games on her way to a 6-1, 6-1 third singles victory to secure the title for Manasquan.

With the victory in hand, only a final score had yet to be determined. Crotty fought back from down 5-2 in the second set to win 7-5 but lost in the end, 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-3. Clancy and Schwier, both seniors playing in their final high school match, also forced a third set before falling, 6-4, 3- 6, 6-4. "This is a great achievement for the whole team," Ravaioli said as hp reattached the fallen racquet to the trophy. "The girls earned this suo-cess.

By FRED SIEGLE STAFF WRITER EDISON TOWNSHIP Ramapo thought it could take a state title with just one singles win, but Emily Patterson and Kristin Phoebus quickly erased that idea yesterday. Patterson and Phoebus beat Lauren Richter and Michelle Wells 6-0, 6-2 yesterday at first doubles to provide a key point as Manasquan beat the Raiders 3-2 to capture the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament of Champions title. The Warrior duo was nearly flawless in storming to the victory in the first set, then slipped a bit but was still outstanding in the second set. "We were pumped up, we wanted to take it to them right from the start," said Phoebus, a junior. "We knew we had to come in here and win, so we were so psyched up for this.

We just played with great concentration and communication." Ramapo coach Kim Marchese had a couple of good reasons to think his team had a chance to win at both doubles. Manasquan's first doubles had beaten his pair in three sets at the Kings Showdown on Sept. 18, but Richter and Wells held a 5-2 lead in the second set after winning the first set at that meeting. Richter and Wells had also won 20 straight since then, including a win over Oak Knoll's previously unbeaten team in the semifinals on Monday. "Manasquan's three singles players are so talented," Marchese said.

"It's no mystery around the state to beat them, you have to win doubles and find a win at singles. The ironic thing is, Millbum and us both were able to take a spot at singles against Manasquan. That's so tough to do. But that team isn't just three singles players. Their doubles have come through for them in a big way." The second game of the first set proved to be the longest for Phoebus and Patterson.

With Richter serving, the game was tied at deuce four times before Patterson put one away mJimimaM -auw OARYL STONEStatf Photographer Manasquan's Emily Patterson exchanges a smile with her doubles partner Kristen Phoebus during their straight-set victory. the NJSIAA Group II title, on the way to a 27-0 record. "Something like this doesn't come without a lot of hard work and dedication from the girls," Manasquan coach Rod Ravaioli said. "What the parents were saying was true. They are a real team.

We have fantastic individual players who support each other and believe in each other. That's what it's all about." It didn't take long for Manasquan to take the lead as Maren Haus turned in a nearly flawless performance at first singles, defeating Alexa Quku, 6-0, 6-1 in just under one hour. Haus showed her dominance in her final service game, as she hit a backhand winner, a textbook backhand slam, forehand volley winner at the net and then a dropshot winner to close out the match. "I beat her pretty easily the first time (6-0, 7-5) but she did give me some problems in the second set," said Haus, whose only loss of the season came in the NJSIAA singles tournament semifinals. "I knew if (Quku) started to lose she would start lobbing, so I wanted to try and not go for winners but to set up my points.

I changed up the pace by coming in and not allowing long ral The ease of the victory at first doubles may have stunned the Ramapo faithful, but not Manasquan coach Rod Ravaioli. "They've been fantastic. They've come through whenever we needed them to," Ravaioli said. "When the match is hanging in the balance, we can depend on them. I honestly and truly believed they would win this easily.

That's been their pattern, something they've done all year. Teams they either lost to or played bad against the first time they played, they came back and put them away the second time. I didn't have any doubt in them." for a 5-2 lead, and they won on Wells' serve, with Phoebus pouncing on a shot at the net and placing the ball in the right corner for the final point. Even with the 4-2 lead, Phoebus and Patterson had the experience from their own comeback in the first meeting to keep them focused on their objective. "I was thinking that in the first tournament, we came back from a set down and 2-5 in the second," Patterson said.

"So we knew there was always a possibility they could come back against us. We had to stay on top of them." at the net, then blew one down the line past Wells to put the Warriors up 2-0. "We knew what we had to do we had to keep it away from the net person, and we had to come to the net ourselves to finish the point," Patterson said. "We needed to be aggressive to win, and that's what we did." After winning that game, Patterson and Phoebus won six more in a row to close out the first set and take a 2-0 lead in the second set. They then went up 4-1 before giving up a second game.

Patterson held serve Freehold, Wall, Rarttan stay alive in tournament! Taylor's goal wins for Knights Anderson's score boosts Colonials STAFF REPORT THE FREEHOLD soccer team is known mainly for its strong defense. But the Colonials picked the right time for a rare three- goal outburst, as Freehold beat Long Branch 3-1 in a first-t round New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Associa-I 'tion Central Jersey Group II matchup. Rodrico Anderson scored the Colonials' deciding goal in the second half, when his corner kick was deflected into the net by a Green Wave defender. Fito Louis scored Long Branch's only goal midway I through the first half to give the Green Wave an early lead, L- but Freehold's Joe Colucci tied it near the end of the half two times and we never got the ijight spins. This time we got it." i Taylor emerged with the ball after Wall freshman Ken Masuhr fired a shot that was blocked by Monmouth.

He then set up and skied an arcing shot that slowly hooked to the left, just out of MacPherson's reach. It was a rare moment of tranquillity in an emotional game not for the weak of stomach. "It seemed like it took an hour to get into the net," Taylor said. "1 thought it was going wide and I said, 'Oh Oh, yes. The decisive goal was the result of Wall's strong passing game.

The Knights' had it in the first half, but Please see Wall, page D6 By BOB CONSIDINE STAFF WRITER WALL TOWNSHIP In 80 minutes of sliding, colliding and sprawling bodies, a rare moment of finesse was the difference for the Wall soccer team yesterday. The man with the touch was senior forward Justin Taylor, just in time. With 7:14 re- WALL 2 maining in re8" MONMOUTH 1 Nation, Taylor lofted a slow floater away from Monmouth goalkeeper Omar MacPherson and into the net to give the Crimson Knights a 2-1 win oyer the visiting Falcons in the opening round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Central Jersey Group III tournament. The goal was a sign of the changing times for Wall as it heads to its second-round matchup with Ocean. Not only are the Crimson Knights playing better, it finally appears that luck is finally on their side.

"If Justin had the same shot a month ago, it wouldn't have gone in," Wall's first-year coach Mike Lyons said. "The ball would have lost all its air and just flew away somewhere else. "(Taylor) had that perfect spin and that's the kind of thing we haven't been getting. When we lost to Rum-son in the first round of the Shore Conference Tournament, we hit the crossbar three times and hit the post Boys Soccer with a line-drive shot from 18 yards out. It was Coluc-ci's first goal of the McGinn boots Rockets to victory By KEITH AG RAN STAFF WRITER HAZLET TOWNSHIP Wet conditions were the equalizer when Raritan took the field for its state playoff opener yesterday.

But the fifth- seeded Rockets staved off RARITAN 2 HAM. WEST 1 year. Tomorrow, Freehold will travel to No. 1-seeded Somer-ville for the second round. MIDDLETOWN NORTH 2, HILLSBOROUGH 1: The Lions ad-m vanced to the second round of the Central Jersey Group IV playoffs with a home victory over Hillsborough.

Ed Portelli scored Middletown North's first goal on a header from the corner off a feed from Tim Fowler. Five minutes into the second half, Fowler gave the Lions an important insurance goal that proved to be the game winner. Lions' goaltender Mike Gorsegner stopped 10 shots to ice the win. Next up for the Lions is a showdown tomorrow at Brid-gewater-Raritan. CHEROKEE 5, TOMS RIVER EAST 0: The Raiders (10-7-2) hopes for the South Jersey Group IV title were dashed as ''Mike Ives scored two second-half goals to power the Chiefs.

DEPTFORD 2, CENTRAL 1: The Golden Eagles lost a heart-breaker as the Spartans' Kevin Sherr scored from 25 yards out, with just under 5 minutes remaining in the opening-round game of the South Jersey Group III playoffs. Three minutes earlier, Central had tied the game when Troy Vanhise fired home a rebound. r. Central goalkeeper Chris Wutch made nine saves in the and Raritan's other high-scoring forward, Scott McGinn. "Today's weather conditions made a game that should have been under control a very competitive match," Raritan coach Roberto Ferazzi said.

"They zeroed in on McGinn very early, and they almost took him out of the game. But he's a tough kid, and he came back." McGinn was forced to leave the game midway through the first half with a slight ankle sprain. But he came back with 10 minutes left in the first half, and the difference was evident for the Rockets. With the Hornets focusing on McGinn the rest of the game, Brian Homowitz broke loose, setting up Medric for the game-winner at 55:57. Homowitz settled a ball just past the midfield stripe, dribbled unmarked for 15 yards, then split two defenders and fed a waiting Medric just inside the 18.

Medric took the pass, slipped away from his defender and popped it over sliding West keeper Pat Vedral for a 2-1 lead Raritan would not relinquish. The day actually started quickly for the Rockets, who made it look as if it might be a runaway. Just 37 seconds into the game, Medric gave the Rockets the advantage, converting a pretty cross from McGinn. The next 30 minutes saw the Rockets sit back, protecting the lead. That complacency cost them as Hamilton West got a Please see Raritan, pageD6 i PETER ACKERMANStaff Photofriphtr Long Branch's Bruno Canaverde (center) and Freehold's Craig Bijou (right) battle for header during their game yesterday.

losing effort. WEST DEPTFORD 3, POINT B0RO 2: The Panthers were eliminated from the South Jersey Group II playoffs by a pair of West Deptford goals scored just 17 seconds apart. Dom Kaiser had given Point Boro the lead off a feed from Matt Weiglein, who scored the Panthers' first goal with an assist from Kaiser. iiiHHmMa 12th-seeded Hornets of Hamilton West 2-1 to advance to the second round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Central Jersey Group III boys soccer tournament. Junior forward Mike Medric scored both Rockets' goals, his 18th and 19th of the season, despite the attention paid him.