How Hanover Park outlasted rival Madison to claim another girls soccer sectional title

MADISON — Gia D'Alessio was excited and confident as Hanover Park's NJSIAA North 2, Group 2 girls soccer final with Madison went to penalty kicks. Despite having played 100 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Hornets' junior goalkeeper didn't feel any stress.

D'Alessio and Dodgers goalie Riley Holland exchanged fist bumps, listened to instructions from the referee, and headed to their respective spots. D'Alessio went in the net, and Holland waited off to the side.

D'Alessio made back to back saves to start the shootout, and Hanover Park went on to a 4-3 victory. The eighth-seeded Hornets will host North 1, Group 2 champion Ramsey for a Group 2 semifinal at noon on Friday.

Hanover Park senior Sienna Petro, Courtney Irwin, Sadie O'Donnell and Samantha Cicerone converted their PK attempts.

"It's the striker's pressure, not the goalie," D'Alessio said. "The striker is supposed to score. ... All the odds are against you. When you succeed, it's the best feeling in the world."

Practice makes perfect

Hanover Park coach Erin Shane Fulton had her players practice penalty kicks on Sunday, like the day before every possible elimination game. She picked the shooters, and let them choose the order that made them the most comfortable.

D'Alessio's job in practice was to stop her teammates, and make them better in the process. On Monday, she brought the five shooters together and reassured them they were ready before she headed toward the goal.

"It gave me something to grasp onto," said Cicerone, whose decisive shot went low and to her right. "Right before your turn, when you're going up there, you think about your teammates. You've just got to be calm. ... It's definitely different than practice, being in front of all these people. I think about how simple it is. I've done this 100 times before. It's the same thing."

Boys soccer: Underdog Mountain Lakes claimed its first sectional title since 1995

Building a rivalry

This is Hanover Park's fifth straight trip to a sectional or other season-ending final. Many of the Hornets' seniors were sophomores when they last won, and advanced all the way to the Group 2 final.

Striker Courtney Irwin was the leading scorer on the 2021 squad, and again this fall. In between, Irwin had surgery to repair her right ACL. But as she stepped up to the spot on Monday, her rehabbed knee was far from her mind.

Instead, Irwin focused on her teammates and the progress they had made since losing to Madison, 2-0, on Sept. 14. At the time, it was the Hornets' second loss in a row, and sparked a nine-game winning streak. Since losing to Chatham – the Morris County Tournament and NJSIAA North 2, Group 3 champion – in a MCT quarterfinal, Hanover Park has won seven straight.

The Hornets blanked ninth-seeded Lyndhurst, toppled top seed Voorhees, then shut out No. 5 Hackettstown en route to Monday's final.

"When I was walking up to the line, all I was picturing was the hundreds of PKs we took in practice," Irwin said. "I took a lot of deep breaths, got my heart rate down, and remembered this is one shot, and I knew I could do it."

Senior Ellison Errington and juniors Avery Visich and Gabby Mariani converted Madison's penalty kicks. Errington wrapped up her final season with 17 goals, surpassing Catherine Zimmerman, who had 16 goals and seven assists as a senior in 2011, as the Dodgers' single-season record-holder.

Zimmerman had also scored the lone goal as Madison beat Parsippany to win its last sectional title in 2011. The Dodgers had lost to Hanover Park in the playoffs in 2021, 2019, 2015 and 2014 – twice in sectional finals.

Madison set a school record with 16 wins this fall, and went undefeated in the NJAC-Liberty.

"The margin of error is so thin in these games," coach Marc Dovico said, pointing out that Madison defeated West Morris on penalty kicks in the second round.

"The goalie guessed right on us, and that was the difference in the game. She made a couple of beautiful saves in regulation. That was the difference in regulation. Otherwise, it doesn't get to PKs. This is the end of soccer. That's the cruel part. We've experienced the excitement of soccer over the past week and a half. Losing in PKs in a final on your home field is about as cruel as it can get."

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ girls soccer: Hanover Park Madison North 2 Group 2 state final