Haley Skove leaps towards the ball during a 4-3 home win over Bishop Eustace on Nov. 5. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)
Sara Nerwinski dribbles during a 4-3 home win over Bishop Eustace on Nov. 5. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)
The Notre Dame High girls’ soccer team came within one victory of winning the NJSIAA Non Public A state championship, after having already taken the Mercer County Tournament and South Jersey Non Public A titles.
A major part of the engine that drove the Irish came from Lawrenceville, as senior captain Raven Linton was a starting defender, junior Haley Skove was a starting midfielder and senior Sara Nerwinski was a starting midfielder/forward. Also helping out was senior reserve defender Kathryn Svoboda.
They’re not only key on the field, but at the dinner table as well.
“Those girls from Lawrence have really given us a big lift,” coach Ken Mason said. “They’re leaders on the team, and we like to have team pasta parties for bonding, and because they live close by they volunteer to have the pasta parties at their houses a lot.”
Nerwinski feels those parties were more important than they may seem on the surface.
Skove loved keeping things right in the Notre Dame neighborhood.
“Having pasta parties right down the street are the best,” she said. “It isn’t just convenient for the Lawrence girls, but it’s convenient for the whole team because right after practice, we just drive five minutes to eat.”
Not to mention, it’s economical. “It saves a lot of gas too,” Skove added with a laugh.
Running out of gas has never been a problem on the field for Linton, who is usually wearing other teams down in the defensive end. She also chipped in with a goal and four assists this year, and had six assists as a junior and seven as a sophomore.
“She’s the fastest player on our team,” Mason said. “Her speed really helps us in the back. She’s able to cover up when another girl gets beat and she’s able to overtake some girls that look like they might have her beat.”
Skove and Linton were summer league teammates, and the only ones of the Lawrence quartet who had had played together prior to Notre Dame. Svoboda was in an older age group and Nerwinski just moved into Lawrence a few years ago.
Mason said Svoboda “came off the bench for us to give us good minutes. She does a great job when she’s in there, and the level of play never slips.”
Julia Panko, who had 24 goals, got most of the headlines and rightfully so. But Mason, in his first year as coach after a long run as Lawrence High athletic director, feels Skove and Nerwinski were major cogs to the offense.
Skove, who had four goals and four assists, began playing soccer at age 5 with the Lawrence Hamnett Soccer Association “which was located right down the street from me.” She moved into travel soccer at age 8 and played for the Lawrence Flames until the end of middle school, before that team splintered as everyone went off to high school.
She made the Irish JV as a freshman and felt “that was a big accomplishment. I learned and experienced a lot on JV.”
She made varsity as a sophomore and worked hard to prove herself, “and now, I am here, junior on varsity and loving every moment,” she said.
Skove started her career as a forward but is enjoying life as a midfielder with Notre Dame. She had two goals and four assists last year, and four goals and six assists this season.
“There is a lot of responsibility in the midfield because you control a lot of the game,” she said. “We have three midfielders that play in the middle and we all have different responsibilities. We can’t mess up or everything in the middle will be a mess.”
Skove added that in order to stop that, she has to get to the ball first in the middle of the field “because when you have the ball, that’s when you can make things happen. You have to stay close to your marks and just win the ball, and the 50/50 balls are most important.”
Mason noted that one of Skove’s biggest attributes is her powerful throw-in, which the Irish have used as a weapon.
“I honestly can’t tell you where I got the ability to throw the ball that far,” Skove said. “I think I would have to say gymnastics really helped me. I did gymnastics for eight years and you need a lot of upper body strength and back muscles, so I guess that’s where my throw came from.”
Nerwinski, like Skove, began soccer at age 5. She played travel ball for the Jackson Pride and was coached by her dad, Kevin, and Ken Hicks, whose daughter Sydney also plays for Notre Dame. The squad split up and Nerwinski hopped from team to team but has settled in on the National Level Soccer Academy.
She was on the ND freshman team in 9th grade and quickly went up to the JV and made varsity as a sophomore.
Mason noted that one of her best attributes is to settle the game down when the Irish are getting helter skelter.
“I look to pass to feet most of the time because that’s the way I’ve always been coached,” Nerwinski said. “I never did the kick and run, my coaches always made me play to feet. It helps us play as a team and play to our true ability.”
As a junior, Nerwinski had four goals and two assists, and this year had six goals and seven assists, including two of the biggest assists of the year in the SJ A title game.
The Irish defeated defending champion Holy Cross on penalty kicks after the game was tied 2-2 after regulation and overtime. Both ND goals were headballs off perfect corner kicks by Nerwinski.
The win gave ND its first sectional title since 1994, to go along with its MCT crown. They gave defending state champ Immaculate Heart Academy all it could handle before falling 2-1 in the second overtime on Nov. 15.
“This is awesome as a senior,” Nerwinski said of the championships. “I’ve been thinking about this for four years. When I was a freshman, looking at all the talent we had, I knew we could do it in four years.”
Notre Dame won the MCT title by defeating Allentown 3-0 in the championship game.
“Winning the MCT title was by far the best memory of high school so far,” Skove said prior to the state tournament. “It meant a lot to me and to the team because we worked so hard throughout the season to be able to become MCT champs.”
And although Skove has another year, she knew how important it was for the girls who were running out of chances.
“Winning meant the world to me because I knew how badly we all wanted it, including the seniors, so we played our hearts out,” she said. “Honestly, I can not describe the feeling. I was so happy to be MCT Champions with my best friends beside me. It was kind of emotional towards the end because we worked so hard for this. But it was the best feeling ever.”
Even better than a full stomach after pasta night.
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