Lady Hawks Advance to States, Round 2

The first round state tournaments proved to be no problem for the Lady Hawks soccer and volleyball squads who both earned early wins to advance. 

On the soccer pitch, River Dell finished the regular season by again coming to a draw with rival Ramsey. Jamie Woods (RD) and Lexi Knief (R) scored the lone goals for their teams.

For the past two years, the Lady Hawks have struggled in the state tournament having been ousted by the Rams in the first round (2009) and quarterfinals (2010), so when the squad looked to be going to OT in the first round against 9th seeded Dumont, it's not surprising that head coach Steve Grenz would be pacing along the sideline.

Instead though, freshman Brigid Tracy scored on a header with 12 seconds left to lead No. 8 River Dell to a 1-0 victory. Frankie Maier set up the shot with a corner kick toward the left post.

River Dell (10-5-2) will play the Glen Rock Lady Panthers on Friday at Ramapo College. The Panthers are seeded higher but have played the majority of the season on the road after Hurricane Irene knocked out their home field.

River Dell (9-5-2) is ranked 10th in Bergen County by the Star-Ledger and 15th by The Record.

On the court, the Hawks volleyball team (19-3) is ranked 6th by the Star Ledger

After earning the top seed in the North Group 2 state tournament, it came as no surprise that River Dell rolled to a 25-5, 25-8 victory over West Side in the opening match behind six kills from senior Kate Brock. Prior to that, River Dell rebounded from their County loss to Demarest in a 25-15, 25-11 win over Fort Lee. On Thursday, Brock and the rest of the Lady Hawks took on Parsippany in the second round and dominated in a 25-16, 25-11 victory, showing off their skills as the top seed.

Brock had 9 kills, 4 assists and 6 digs; Linsday Clark had 4 digs; Jennifer Desplat with 1 kill; Christine Desplat with 1 dig; Alician Hines with 2 kills; Mary Maccabee had 4 kills and 6 digs; Emily Wilts finished with 8 kills and 2 assists; and Kalette deMarrais came up with 2 aces, 1 kill, 18 assists and 3 digs.

Also still competing in the state tournament is underdog 9th seeded Bergen Catholic in the Non Public North A group. Travis Nitti tied the Pope John Lions in Sparta to force overtime and then came in big again with his second goal of the game. BC takes on top seeded Pingry this afternoon.

Tournament Dreams Dashed

The Golden Hawks boys soccer and Lady Hawks field hockey teams suffered first-round defeat in their state tournaments but avoided a shut-out.

Boys soccer ended the regular season with a 4-1 loss to Mahwah with the lone goal by Jose Aparicio. After their state game had to be postponed due to power issues in Montvale, the Pascack Hills Cowboys rode a three-goal scoring opportunity for a 3-1 win over River Dell. Both teams were held scoreless in the first half, but the Cowboys overcome a 1-1 tie game when Dylan Hammalian booted the ball from 18 yards back to finalize the win. Nick Shanman had the lone River Dell goal. 

Field hockey put forth a valiant effort in the N1G2 opening round battling a tough Parsippany team but a three-goal lead by Parsippany in the first half doomed the Lady Hawks in a 4-1 loss. Gabrielle Monroe netted a River Dell goal in the second half to avoid the shut out.

Football Securs State Tournament Berths

Both the Golden Hawks and Crusaders secured their state tournament berths, potentially as the number one and two seeds in their respective groups.

River Dell finalized their top spot with a 19-14 win over Ridgefield Park following Lenny Smith's two game-changing inter­ceptions on screen passes, returning one for what turned out to be the deciding touchdown. Tim Barnes picked up the other two touchdowns. 

Bergen Catholic put to­gether a strong second half to pull away from St. Pe­ter’s Prep, 27-18. James Dawson got the Crusaders rolling on a 94-yard kickoff return while Garrett Dickerson and Parker Tobia followed up with short passes from Jon Germano (who added a two-yard run TD to finish the game. Austin Devine was 3 for 4 in PAT's.

Upcoming Games:

Friday, 1pm - 9th seeded Lady Hawks soccer looks to upset the top seeded Lady Panthers of Glen Rock in the North 1 Group 2 state tournament at Ramapo College.

Friday, 2pm - 9th seeded Bergen Catholic soccer needs to upset top seeded Pingry in the Non-Public North A tournament to keep their state tournament alive

Friday, 7pm - River Dell football closes out the regular season on the road at Dumont

Monday, 4pm - Volleyball continues its deep state run with a semi-finals match against either the winner of Pascack Valley/Sparta.