As they entered their final soccer season at Robbinsville High School, the Ravens’ four seniors and their coach had varied goals and expectations.
Karen DeRossett, the veteran head coach, insisted her team could win a sectional championship. Riane Walsh was in complete agreement with that, while Nenagh Sheehan wanted to forge a better record than 2015 while also winning a title.
Kellie Hoffman was shooting for a .500 season or better. All Megan Lekulitch wanted was to have a good time and make it a memorable season.
If that were all written down on a checklist, the final tally would have been check, check, check, check and check.
In going 12-8, the Ravens did indeed improve on last year’s 5-10-1 record, which led to an NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II sectional title, which provided plenty of good times and a very memorable season.
“I can not begin to express how proud I am of my team,” Walsh said. “We set a goal this year and we accomplished it. Everyone worked hard, our coaches constantly encouraged us, and we won the sectional title.”
Robbinsville became one of the surprise feel-good stories of the state tournament, as it entered the event as one of the coldest teams in the state. The Ravens had just one win in their final six games—a penalty kick triumph over West Windsor Plainsboro North in the first round of the Mercer County Tournament—and were a pedestrian 8-7.
They did have a No. 4 seed, however, which promised home games in the first two rounds.
“Entering states we knew it was going to be tough,” Lekulitch said. “Coming off those losses really beat down our confidence and momentum as a team. Being fourth in our bracket gave us hope. From the first state home game, we learned that hard work had a positive impact. It carried us a long way.”
The first game wasn’t easy as Walsh, Sheehan, Hoffman and Maria Artemiou scored goals in a 4-3 win over 13th-seeded Matawan. That was just a sign of things to come.
The quarterfinals were just as difficult as Walsh set up Hoffman for the game-winner with 12 minutes left in a 1-0 win over a Bernards team that crushed Robbinsville in last year’s states.
“Our first game we had the home advantage, and no one wanted to lose their last game of the season on their home turf,” Hoffman said. “Once we had one win, who said we couldn’t do it again? We were seeded higher than Bernards, but we were looked at as the underdogs for having lost to them last year. We all wanted revenge, and were not going to let anyone get in our way of a banner.”
That brought up a trip to Clark, where Robbinsville would face top-seeded Johnson and their glittering 16-2 record.
“I knew going into states we would go in fighting and win the first two home games,” Sheehan said. “When the game against Johnson was approaching, I was very nervous knowing they were the number one seed.”
Once again, it was late-game heroics that decided things as Sara Hutt scored with just 1:20 left in regulation, converting a rebound off the post from Walsh’s shot. Hoffman also scored in the victory.
“That felt like a dream,” Sheehan said. “My sophomore year we made it to that same (semifinal) game but lost in overtime and it was heartbreaking. I think the heart and desire of everyone on the team turned it around, we wanted a title and nothing would stop us.”
That title came on Nov. 11 when Robbinsville traveled to third-seede Rumson-Fair Haven. By that point, anyone would be let down by anything other than a one-goal game and the Ravens did not disappoint. Hutt, a mere sophomore, scored her sixth goal of the season with 10 minutes remaining and junior goalie Jamie Skarupsky made it stand up with her eighth shutout in a 1-0 victory.
“The feeling of happiness and content was spread throughout the team,” Lekulitch said. “Holding the trophy in our hands and feeling together as a unit was one of the best feelings in the entire world. To see the smile on our coaches’ faces means that we were successful.”
For Hoffman, who finished among the county leaders with 23 goals, the championship felt like redemption.
“Finally winning a title and banner after four years in the varsity program means everything to me,” she said. “This season we became a team to remember, a team that shouldn’t be underestimated.”
Sheehan wanted the game to be her own personal Groundhog Day.
“If I had to pick one moment to replay in my life thus far it would be that day,” she said. “Winning the CJ finals felt like something in a book. When that last whistle blew I was in total shock and the happiest I have ever been.”
It was the Ravens’ first sectional title since 2011. That year, Robbinsville beat Haddonfield in the state semis before losing in the finals. Ironically, Haddonfield was again the obstacle between the Ravens and a state final and entered the match with a 24-1 record and national ranking.
This time the one-goal magic was reversed as the Bulldogs took a 1-0 victory at St. Augustine High School on Nov. 15. The Ravens’ tears flowed freely, and no one was embarrassed by it.
“Losing that night was very sad, and everyone’s emotions were on high blast,” Sheehan said. “Haddonfield was ranked very high in the state and even the nation so just losing by one goal made me very proud of how we played that night, I knew everyone wanted to win and we left everything on that field.”
“It was emotional,” added Lekulitch. “Realizing that it was my last soccer game with my best friends threw me for a loop. But as emotional as it was, I think everyone played their hearts out whether it was for a win or even for us seniors.”
If anyone wanted to see the seniors win a championship, it was their coach. DeRossett has won two state titles at Robbinsville and has dealt with some truly outstanding players. So it’s pretty significant in the way she looks at this year’s group of outgoing players.
“They are all amazing and really have done such an outstanding job this season,” DeRossett said. ”I can’t put one over the other in terms of what they meant to us. They were the backbone of our team.”
It was the kind of season that begged for senior leadership, especially when things went sour. Robbinsville ripped off four straight wins to open the season at 7-2 and suddenly the roof caved in.
The most challenging part of the schedule arrived, and the Ravens ended the regular season on a four-game losing streak.
“There was a long period of miscommunication,” Lekulitch said. “While facing the toughest teams in the CVC, it created an image in our minds that we were not good enough. It forced a rough patch upon us. But with tough times comes a sudden peak and sense of urgency.”
Tough times also lead to a crossroads. Either the seniors would make an impact, or the season would end quickly.
“I tried my hardest to keep a positive mindset on and off the field,” Lekulitch said. “During practices, we did bonding activities, which created a bond almost as if we were a family. Throughout each and every game we huddled in the center of the field and explained to everyone how no matter what the outcome is, everybody has each other’s backs.”
Walsh felt it was chance to show the younger players that through adversity came toughness.
“We told everyone to keep their heads up,” Walsh said. “No one likes losing, especially that many games in a row. But we told them that this was good for us. It showed us that we needed to work harder if we wanted to advance in the state tournament and this is just what we did.”
Hoffman figured words wouldn’t be enough, and that the seniors had to lead by example.
“During that time, if our work ethic and intensity are strong, that of our teammates should improve,” Hoffman said. “To keep everyone together, we had to encourage everyone that we can be the team to win it, whether or not others believed so. Playing four years of varsity soccer, I wanted to win a banner.”
And finally, Sheehan thought it came down to a good mental state.
“We pushed our teammates hard in practice and just kept believing that we can be an excellent team,” she said. “We focused during practice and during the games and each week we would reflect on what we could have done better and did it. Making the rest of the team feel confident and making them believe we can go far was a huge part.”
Robbinsville stopped its skid with the PK win over WWPN before losing to eventual champion Hopewell Valley in the MCT quarterfinals. Walsh felt that the victory over West Windsor lit a fuse and got things going again. She also thought the Ravens finally had things figured out.
“We were still testing our formation earlier,” she said. “Throughout the year there were many changes made, offensive players moving back to defense, midfielders and defenders switching spots. I think once we figured out our final lineup we became dynamite. Of course I was nervous, coming off of a bunch of losses, but winning WWPN really helped us all out. We won, and people began to believe again.”
The team’s most visible player was Hoffman, who went from 14 goals as a sophomore, to seven last year, up to 23 this season. Hoffman, who along with Sheehan is weighing college soccer offers, gave her teammates credit for the increase, saying “I felt I had teammates that knew how I played and knew my strengths this year. That helped set me up for my shots, whereas last year our defense to offense transitions were not great.”
Walsh chipped in with six goals and five assists, Lekulitch had two goals and four assists and Sheehan had a goal and three assists. Skarupsky was solid in goal, while other contributors included Maria Artemiou, Sophie Billings, Kamryn Diel, Sydney Flyge, Alecia Holden, Sophie Langsdorf, Sarah Mazalewski, Macie Renner and Sara Toscano.
Lekulitch had special praise for DeRossett and her staff, saying “without them, I don’t know where our journey would have ended. Their motivation, faith and determination led us to the state semifinals and I could not thank them enough.”
Even though they came two games short of the ultimate goal, it was a group of coaches and players who will have a special place in RHS history reserved for them, considering where they came from.
“Coach DeRossett said before almost every game in the tournament, ‘Play like it is your last game,’” Walsh said. “We never really knew when the season would be over, what game would finalize our season. Truthfully, I think this is the reason we all played like we did at the end. Each of us played with heart, we played the way we did because we love the game. No one wanted the season to come to an end, especially us seniors, so we knew that every time we stepped on the field we had to do our best.”
And their best provided a checklist on which every item was filled in successfully.
Robbinsville High’s Kellie Hoffman controls the ball in the box during the Ravens’ Nov. 1, 2016 win against Matawan. (Staff photo by Rob Anthes.),
