CROSS RIVER, N.Y. - On Wednesday, Nov. 4, John Jay held a 2-0 lead well into the second half of the opening round of regionals, and the next step was in sight. Unfortunately, Warwick scored with 14 minutes remaining, and there would be no easy cruise home. That was especially true in the final minute, when a mad frenzy sent bodies flying everywhere.
So how badly did Sofia Berisha want to hear the final whistle and have it signal victory?
“One hundred percent, that’s all I was thinking,” said the defender, and when the whistle finally sounded, John Jay had held on for a 2-1 victory in the regional semifinals.
The Wolves came out firing. Maye Viders got a steal and continued to show her stuff. She burst down the middle and forced Warwick into a foul.
Mykel Papa’s free kick went wide, but that didn’t provide much relief for Warwick, because the Wolves’ other offensive weapon was soon loading her bullets. Abby Mattielo danced along the sideline, made space and fired a shot on goal at 34:33.
Of course, Warwick came to play, too. First, Ava Jones sent a hook toward the top right corner of the goal, and a pass inside had Teagan Currid deflecting a shot on target. Neither was good enough, as Evelyn Hermanto was there both times.
Her workload was far from over. Catherine Paulsen got the ball on the sideline, and her lofted pass ahead began the first of many footraces for the John Jay goalie.
Against Currid, Hermanto won by a nose, but the Wolves still had to deal with a free kick. Papa rose to meet the ball with her head, and the clear was made with 25 minutes left in the half.
Up the field, Mattielo worked her magic again. She forced her way through two defenders, and getting the ball to Viders meant another free kick.
A little foreshadowing followed, as Viders made good shortly afterward. The winger received a perfect ball from Alex Milich, and after taking a step, Viders was taken down. In walked Lila Baker, and a penalty kick from 12 yards away gave the Wolves a golden opportunity.
The flip side couldn’t be ignored, though.
“It’s a lot of pressure, but you have to shake it off,” said the defender.
Still, Baker didn’t complicate the opportunity.
“I have a side I’m more confident in. So I go with that,” she said, and the ball arrived untouched in the right side of the net at 15:41.
Warwick kept coming anyway, and so did the John Jay defense. On a ball rolling into the corner, Papa gave chase alongside a Warwick winger, put a check on and won the ball back just the same.
Alexa Hayes made a similar play as Julia Kowalczyk got in deep. Hayes chased down the ball and made a U-turn out of danger at 11:15.
More defense followed, including another big play by Hermanto five minutes later. Once again, she had to make a decision.
“In the moment. I have to be quick. It has to be wait or stay,” said the eighth grader, who beat Currid to the ball.
In the final minute of the half, Papa kept Warwick at bay when its attack went into a frenzy. The John Jay defender took a hard blast off her body and preserved the one-goal lead.
Into the second half, Viders remained on the sideline.
“After this long season, we’re both just kind of burned out,” said Mattielo. “We played limited minutes.”
Emilia Koronowski held her own nonetheless, and the continued pressure put Papa on a free kick with 37 minutes remaining. Almost perfect, the ball clipped the crossbar and went off the football goalpost.
John Jay was back a few minutes later, and another free kick produced the right result. After Papa’s lofted ball, possession bounced around, and Mattielo went on maneuvers. On the left, she juked her way around a Warwick defender and hit the top right corner of the net.
There wasn't much of a reaction from Mattielo, and she explained why.
“I guess I was just kind of expecting it,” said the winger.
The goal came at 33:33, but Warwick nearly answered when it put a shot on Hermanto. The Wolves’ goalie made the stop but allowed a rebound. With an empty net in front of her, a Warwick player sent the follow-up wide at 28:24.
After a big sigh of relief, the re-entry of Viders was a welcome sight, and she went right down the sideline. A lead pass from Baker sent Viders forward, and her cross raised the threat level, but no foot was there to meet it.
Even so, the pressure swung the other way. On a free kick from the sideline, the lofted ball went just over Hermanto’s hand at 15:45.
“It only hit the crossbar,” said the goalie.
Warwick wasn’t giving up, and the visitors continued to pressure the goal. Currid came free and cut the deficit in half with 14:33 remaining.
So John Jay stepped it up. Poppy Rudy got a steal at midfield and sent the ball to Mattielo, whose incursion forced a Warwick foul at 12:35.
Papa’s shot went right to the goalie, and a minute later, Sophya Papa teamed up with Viders. Her kick went wide, but the clock kept ticking.
A lead pass by Paulsen rolled too long, and Hermanto’s goal kick set John Jay up to kill more time. Three straight corner kicks went a long way toward that, but Mykel Papa’s header over the crossbar changed possession.
With 4:15 remaining, time was running short and the intensity was rising several notches. Still, the Wolves stayed the course.
“Our team is really good at composure,” said Berisha. “That’s what’s gotten us so far into this.”
Up went the final corner kick, but the delivery was too high, and Berisha’s heart soared just the same.
“Oh my God,” she concluded. “I was speechless.”
The Wolves will now advance to face Section 11's West Islip on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 1:30 p.m. at Nyack High School.
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