Lacey's courage against the mighty Point Boro Panthers

The 1989 version of the Point Pleasant Boro High School girls soccer team had just about it all.

The Panthers were a senior-dominated team, led by stopper Karen Anderson, goalie Jennifer MacIver, as well as defender Andrea Mucho and backups Alaine Kamin and Jen Apito. But the talent was from a dominant underclassmen group that included sophomore Wendi Pearce, junior center-midfielder Jennifer Shutt, junior defender Charisse Hopkins and junior forward Kim Yankowski, who set the county record for goals in a season with 48 and had 16 assists as well.

This Panthers team was 18-0 and had outscored its opponents by a mind-blowing 117-3. Now mind you, the Panthers were in a horribly weak Class C Conference and at times so dominant, they didn't even play tyhhe full 80 minutes.

This team, like the 16-0-2 team of 1987 that won the Shore Conference Tournament, was ear-marked for history. These Panthers just couldn't lose. They were dominant without question.

And on the night of Monday, June 5, 1989, the Panthers, the top seed of this year's tournament, was set up with a semifinal matchup against the Lacey Lions, the fourth seed.

In 1987, these Lions were the only team at the Shore that could "figure out" the unbeaten Panthers, finishing in a pair of ties against them. But that year, the Lions lost to Wall in the SCT semifinal round and it was Wall which lost to Point Boro for the title. In 1988, Lacey was in a transitional year and lost in the opening round of the tournament, while a one-loss Boro team was being shocked on its home field in the SCT semifinals by Toms River North.

Now finally, the Lions and Panthers were going to meet on the same field for the first time in two years on Boro's soccer field. And the Lions were a hot team -- coach Paul Groben's team had won 16 straight matches going into this semifinal with a record of 17-2-1. They had a dynamic duo up front in junior Jen Grike and sophomore Sara Patiro. They had senior midfielder Casey Musselman and they also had a strong defense dictated by senior twins Dawn and Denise Dickten. Dawn was the sweeper in front of her goalie sister.

Lacey definitely had a chance, but the Lions needed to land some quick jabs and important punches if they were to knock out the mighty Panthers.

I arrived at Boro's field and it was a packed stadium that night. Boro's fans knew if they got through this one, they could win it all. What they didn't expext was Lacey's fans having the same exact thought.

The first thing I noticed was sophomore defender Sheri Sheridan drawing the toughest assignment: She had to cover Yankowski one on one, following after her like she was Mary's little lamb. Everywhere Yankowski went, so, too, went Sheridan. And no, at times it wasn't pretty, but Sheridan did her best to shadow the Shore's best player for 80 minutes.

But the thing was that Point Boro had the action mostly in Lacey's part of the field. So in that regard, it was inevitable that the Panthers were going to get on the board. But that was a gamble Groben and assistant coach Tom Hamilton were going to take. You don't give yourself a chance to win unless you have your defense on top of things.

Boro had numerous chances, but Lacey's defense with Dawn Dickten being a part of almost everything on defense kept the Panthers off the scoreboard.

Amd after two 20-minute quarters, it was a scoreless tie. I count up my shots at halftime. Boro has 13. Lacey has one. How long is Lacey going to hold the fort down for? It was inevitable that the Panthers were going to score.

The second half began and Sheridan kept on Yankowski, while freshman Niki Kosloski and sophomore Karyn Krause were sticking close to Shutt. Shutt had 16 goals and 17 assists going into this game, but Groben noticed something that only an eagle-eyed soccer purist noticed.

"When we noticed Shutt was not playing all that well out there, we took the double-team off of her and freed Niki up to play offense," he said afterward.

Good call. From her midfield position, Kosloski was able to bring the ball past the midway point of the field. She saw Boro coming three players strong defensively, so the plan from Groben was when they could get out on a break, start Grike and Patiro in between the three defenders -- in other words, run through the two pathways the three defenders allowed the Lions to have.

Kosloski sent a through-ball in toward Grike, who came in on MacIver, who must have been shocked by what she was seeing. MacIver stopped the blast from about 10 yards out, but could not retrieve the ball. Patiro came in and beat MacIver to the ball, poking her right-footed shot past MacIver.

Suddenly, it was a much different game with the Lions leading 1-0, with about 30 minutes left.

For that next 30 minutes, the Panthers dominated down at Lacey's end, but could never really get a good enough shot at Denise Dickten. The third quarter ended and for Lacey, the plan was 20 more minutes of survival.

With Lacey playing a man-to-man defense, the Panthers were frustrated. They got shots, but not good enough. And tine was ticking away on them down a goal.

Ten minutes turned into five minutes, then four, then three. And Boro had its last great chance in that next minute. Somehow, it was Kamin who got loose and had a one on one with Denise Dickten. How did the Lions mess this one up? It was about to become 1-1.

Except it didn't. The aggressive Denise Dickten jumped on the shot opportunity and made the point-blank save of Kamin with 2:26 to go.

In the end, Denise Dickten made 12 saves. And the Panthers outshot the Lions by a ridiculous 21-4 margin, But as the final whistle blew, Lacey players jumped up and down, about to celebrate the biggest victory in program history.

Boro fans were stunned, some strong enough to give the Panthers players a warm round of applause even though they weren't the ones moving on to the final.

The first player I saw on the Boro side after the congratulatory handshakes was Kerry Hoffmaster, a longtime senior defender. The only person in the world that mattered to her was her dad Jim, a longtime wrestling assistant coach at Boro. She just completely fell apart in his arms, sobbing like the world just came to an end.

Well, no it didn't. Just her career.

I found Groben, who praised his players for staying strong the entire time, even though they were dominated by a Panthers team that did everything but put the ball in the back of the net.

"It was really hard to keep up with (Yankowski)," Sheridan said afterward. "But that's what kept me go ing. When we scored, everything was awesome. I just wanted to give 100%. They were tough, but they didn't play any tough teams on their schedule. We did."

She wasn't wrong. But Dawn Dickten admitted one thing.

"When Yankowski came down on some of those breakaways, I was praying for a Hail Mary somewhere," she said.

Lacey's players and coaches left more than pleased. Five days later, the Lions derfeated third-seeded Middletown North, 5-2, for their first-ever SCT title under Groben.

As for Panthers coach Bob Kulessa, it was obvious what went wrong.

"We didn't put the ball in the net," he started. "But you have to give them credit. I was proud of the way we played."

A year later and with a brand new weapon -- freshman forward Christie Pearce -- the Panthers exacted revenge on everyone by going 20-0 and outscoring their opponents, 190-5, beating Wall in the SCT title game, 3-1.

Five years later, another Lacey team went unbeaten behind star playrs Dana Jurczyk and Corey Musselman and won its second SCT championship.

But when I look back at the coaching career of the late Paul Groben, I am always reminded of that night when his Lions slayed the beast known as Point Pleasant Boro, 1-0.

These Lions absolutely had courage.

Getting off the ground and getting a historic victory

No team in Ocean County softball was more dominant in the 1989 season than Toms River East.

The Raiders had blown through their schedule with an all-star cast of players that included veterans Kathy Hawtin, Kathy Higley, Jennifer Brown, Cristy Iorio and pitcher Kim Tompkins. Then came the icing on the cake when junior third baseman Michelle Carlson joined the Raiders from Central Regional after the family had moved from Bayville to Toms River.

Trust me, she wanted to be at Central, but now she was an East Raider. With her presence, the Raiders almost felt unstoppable. The Raiders were 23-2 with the only hiccups on the season being a regular-season loss at Southern Regional in Class A South play, and a 2-0 loss to Washington Township in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV semifinals, a loss that center fielder Jeannine Zarrillo STILL beats herself up over since she made a costly error that allowed the runs to score.

But while East had been the top team in the county under coach Debbie Dietrich and assistant Diane Morrissey, the team that shadowed East throughout was cross-town rival Toms River South, coached by the venerable Jim Christiano and assisted by Vinnie Iacullo. The Indians were 18-6 ... but three of their losses were to Toms River East, including a gut-wrenching loss in the bottom of the seventh in the NJSIAA  SJ IV quarterfinal round for which East rallied to win the game, 7-6.

South had a talented team that included senior catcher Emily Dupignac, senior center fielder Andrea Powitz and a ton of underclassmen who would be the future of the program for the next couple of years: sophomore second baseman Marti Seaman, freshman third baseman Renae Avalone and sophomore lefthanded hurler Jodi Solana, who was quickly establishing herself as the best pitcher in the county.

But Solana was yet to beat Tompkins, who was 23-2 like her team and a steadying force on the mound. She didn't have the movement or speed Solana had, but she had accuracy and she had a team behind her that made plays. Let's just say that.

It was inevitable these two teams would face one another in the county championship on Thursday, June 1, 1989, at Lakewood High School on a field more condusive to beer-league softball (over 300 feet to the outfield) than girls high school softball.

It was a warm night and I was sitting on my new perch on top of the Lakewood High softball equipment storage unit next to the home team dugout. Both teams exchanged lineups, I announced lineups for the finale and awayt we went.

This was also a contentious night for the East faithful. Until 1989, the Raiders had never won a state tournament softball game, but that changed after coming from behind to beat South. And East had never won a tournament title in its 10-year existence as a program.

Seriously. Never happened before. And East was favored to win this. The Raiders were here one other time as a favorite -- they stumbled their way to a 7-5 loss to last-seeded Lacey at Winding River Park in 1987. So in that regard, the heat was on.

Though Solana walked, she was left stranded in the top of the first. Then East pounced on Solana in the bottom of the first inning. Carlson singled. Sally Ballantyne, another Raider senior, beat out a bunt single that South wasn't prepared for. And Iorio's grounder was botched by shortstop Ellen Truskowski, allowing Carlson to score the first run of the game. With runners now on second and third, Brown lofted a sacrifice fly to right fielder Magali Lopez to make it 2-0.

That brought up Hawtin, who had not hit well in the previous two OCT games. As a natter of fact, she was 1-for-7 going into the tournament final. But with her bat, she could break out at any time. On a 2-1 pitch, Solana gave Hawtin a pitch she couldn't resist.

Next thing you know, Powitz is chasing the ball over her head in center field. Iorio scored easily and the race was on to see if Hawtin would circle the bases. By the time, Powitz caught up to the ball, Hawtin was near third base and a miraculous throw by Seaman on the cutoff was not going to happen.

An inside-the-park home run. It was 4-0 East.

Tompkins ran into trouble in the second on a couple of walks and a Lopez grounder back to Tompkins allowed Avalone to score to make it 4-1.

But East was on the prowl again in the bottom of the second. Zarrillo walked with one out and Carlson doubled her to third. After a strikeout by Ballantyne, Iorio beat out an infield single and when Seaman threw the ball away at first, Carlson followed Zarrillo to the plate to make it 6-1.

South, meanwhile, had a threat in the top of the fourth inning. The Indians needed to get back into this game and loaded the bases with one out, but cool as the other side of the pillow, Tompkins got No. 9 hitter Phyllis Mahon to pop out and Powitz to hit a comebacker to Tompkins to keep it 6-1.

This demoralized South without question. And it was going to get worse in the bottom of the fourth. Zarrillo walked to lead off, got sacrificed by Carlson to second and moved to third on a single by Ballantyne. Iorio grounded out to Truskowski, her only play was to first base, to bring in Zarrillo and make it 7-1.

Then Brown reminded people why East was really, really, really good that season. On a 2-1 pitch, she rocked a triple to the left-center field gap to score Ballantyne and it was 8-1.

South put runners on second and third with two outs in the fifth inning, but Tompkins induced Seaman into another comebacker to end the inning.

It was 8-1 and East needed six more outs to secure that elusive OCT championship as daylight had switched over to nighttime. But why write this story unless there's a twist to it. And South was about to deliver one in the top of the sixth inning down seven.

Erin Morsch started the sixth with a single and Lopez walked. Nice start, but you're still down seven runs.

New left fielder Tonya Coppola struck out for the first out. But the top of the lineup was back again. Powitz fouled out to right fielder Higley for the second out, but on the play, both runners tagged up. Higley threw to third to try and get Morsch, but her throw skipped past Carlson for an error to allow Morsch to score. With Lopez coming into third, Carlson's throw was off the mark for yet another error, easily allowing Lopez to score to make it 8-3.

OK, that should be all the damage, right?

Think again.

Solana used her speed to beat out an infield hit, bringing up Dupignac. It was 1-0 when Tompkins delivered her pitch in the strike zone. Dupignac made contact. The last thing I remember was watching Tompkins put her glove up to her face to protect herself from a line drive that could have broken body parts. Everyone was safe and timeout was called as Dietrich, Morrissey and her teammates came to Tompkins, who was on the ground.

The East senior was the only pitch the Raiders had other than Carlson, but she threw as many innings that season as I did, and I didn't raise my hand in hopes of participating. You can almost hear a pin drop as all the attention was now in that East circle as a dazed Tonpkins was finally recovering from what happened -- or almost sadly happened if she had not protected herself.

It was faint, but you can almost hear Carlson tell Tompkins, "Get up because if you can't pitch, I have to pitch." Somewhere in there, Tompkins cracked a smile. This team seemed to know when to pick each other up when it was needed.

Tompkins got up to a loud ovation from both sides. She threw some pitches and she was fine.

South, however, wasn't done picking on East's ace. On an 0-2 pitch, Truskowski, who grew up a soccer player, leveled a triple to the right-center field gap to score both Solana and Dupignac and it was 8-5. Avalone singled in Truskowski to cut the lead to 8-6. Then Seaman singled and Morsch walked and the bases were loaded.

How could this change so quickly? A base hit and we're tied ... in one inning! But Lopez hit a flyball to right field that Hawtin eased over toward the line to make the catch and keep it at 8-6 with three outs to go.

But like the fifth inning, East went quietly in the sixth. Now the Raiders had to hold it down for that first-ever tournament title in program history.

However, Coppola walked to begin the seventh and bring the top of the South order up again. Powitz, who had an 0-for-5 night, hit a comebacker to Tompkins, who threw to Brown for the first out as Coppola moved to second base. Solana singled to center and Zarrillo kept Coppola from scoring, but as the ball went into Hawtin, Solana wisely moved up to second base.

The tying run was at second base and it was now up to Dupignac again. She hit a flyball to Zarrillo, who made the catch, but Christiano put the stop sign up on the not-so-fast Coppola to keep runners on second and third.

The game now was left in the hands of Truskowski. On a 1-1 pitch, Truskowski made contact and got the ball just out of the reach of Iorio's glove hand into center field. Coppola scored and Christiano was not hesitating in sending home Solana to tie the game at 8-8.

What seemed assured almost an hour earlier had turned into a 50-50 contest. East got out of the inning. Because they were the top seed, now the Raiders had a chance to get the run to win the 1989 OCT championship. But South was confident and Solana, who had six strikeouts, was getting stronger as the game played on.

The Raiders needed a good start. That started with Hawtin. She worked the count to 3-2 against Solana before drawing a walk. Christine Grice popped out to Seaman for the first out. Then Dietrich made the call of the game: She had Hawtin steal second against her catching opposite number Dupignac. Hawtin slid in with the steal of second base.

Higley singled to left field, but Hawtin got held up at third base, putting runners on the corners. Well any force of Higley got wiped out when she took second base.

Left-handed hitting Cheryl Stump was the batter. Another of some talented East seniors, Stump had big hits in wins that week already against Middletown South and Lacey in the Shore Conference Tournament. Now she had a chance to be a hero ... again.

Stump worked the count to 3-2. On the next pitch, she made contact. It was a high chopper to a fairly tall Seaman at second base. Seaman had to adjust to the bounce, but got it and threw to home to try and nail Hawtin.

She didn't. Hawtin slid into home plate safely and East players came out of their side of the field to mob Hawtin as the Raiders had escaped with a 9-8 win over a South team that kept getting closer and closer to beating the Raiders, but just couldn't pull it off.

Tournament director and Lakewood High softball coach Dave McKelvey had set up with the plaques and trophies to be handed out. This was the first year that awards were going to top fielder, top hitter, the OCT Most Valuable Pitcher and the Most Valuable Player, I had the first three awards figured out. The only award I didn't have was the Most Valuable Player.

So before I went on the PA to announce the award winners and give out the first- and second-place trophies, I called over coach Dietrich (now Debbie Schwartz) and asked her who she thought was the MVP. She told me ... we went forward.

After Tompkins was announced as the Most Valuable Pitcher -- an honor she deserved considering an hour earlier, there was concern of her continuing in the circle or not after the Dupignac line drive. Then I said this.

"Finally, the Most Valuable Player of the 1989 OCT. At the plate, she was only 2-for-9 in the tournament, but it was her home run in the four-run first inning who set the tone and it was her steal of second in the seventh inning that allowed her to eventually come home with the winning run. The Most Valuable Player for the OCT is No. 36, Kathy Hawtin!"

She grabbed the award from McKelvey and her teammates once again mobbed her. I finally got down from my perch and interviewed Christiano, Hawtin and Dietrich, who was more than happy to get that first championship for the program.

But that wasn't the finish for East. While South's season came to an end, East would go on to throttle Wall Township in the SCT semifinal round, 8-3, then wipe out Red Bank Catholic, 10-0, to win the SCT and finish a 26-2 season.

To get there, though, the Raiders had to pass this test on that first day of June when the Indians gave the Raiders everything they had that night, especially in the last two innings, but East perservered and won.

And would win a lot more in the decades ahead.