Savoring Section 1 title, John Jay Wolves march on at State soccer tournament

Goalie Evelyn Hermanto leads team across the pitch to celebrate their overtime win. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

By JIM MACLEAN 

A championship game, overtime, one big play to decide it all, and only one team gets to celebrate. It would be the John Jay girls varsity soccer team with the happy ending.

John Jay had to work overtime to make it happen, and the Wolves delivered, first advancing from the semifinals with an overtime victory and then battling into overtime in the championship game of the Section 1 Class AA tournament on Nov. 1, at Arlington High School against Harrison.

The big play to decide it all came at the 3:36 mark of the second overtime period. Mykel Papa took a direct kick, sending it into the far post where Lila Baker headed it back in front and Sophya Papa booted it into the net for the winning goal to set off the celebration for John Jay.

Abby Mattiello (16) celebrates with Viders (10) and Coco Inglis after Mattiello scored the first goal of the finals to give John Jay the lead.

“It was an amazing header from Lila and it came to me, it was a one-touch and I just had to finish,” Sophya Papa said of her winning goal. “Really exciting to score that goal and celebrate with my team.”

After the game-winning goal, the Wolves soaked in the moment and accepted their championship medals and awards. Captains Mykel Papa and senior Ava Cervantes, who missed the entire season with an ACL injury, accepted the coveted gold ball and ran it over to their teammates to celebrate.

“We wanted this so bad and we’re all playing for each other,” explained Mykel Papa. “We had an injury in our last game and we have a senior who couldn’t touch the field this year because of an ACL injury. We all wanted to do it for them and for all of us and this is so exciting.”

Mykel Papa leaps for joy after scoring the game-winning overtime goal in semifinals.

John Jay got off to a great start as the Wolves entered the championship game on fire and applied the pressure on the Huskies.

Abby Mattiello was able to convert and score the first goal of the game just two minutes in off an assist from Maye Viders as the duo continued to provide the spark on offense for the Wolves. Viders sent a through ball to Mattiello, who beat a defender and the goalie to put it into the net.

“It was so intense, once they scored we were tied and there are so many thoughts going through your head, but we handled it well and were able to come back in overtime,” explained Mattiello. “I had a lot of faith in our team. It’s not always about skill, it’s about grit and determination and that’s where we shined and we got through it and got it done together.”

John Jay had the momentum and the Wolves kept up the pressure with one scoring chance after another in the Harrison end of the field.

The Wolves had five corner kicks and a bunch of shots on goal in a span of about five minutes, but none of them found the net and the score remained 1-0 at halftime.

In the second half, Harrison settled in and started to control possession and create opportunities, and it paid off as the Huskies tied it up on a goal from Natalie Chantrasuk with 8:46 left to play. The Huskies kept up the pressure, but John Jay goalie Evelyn Hermanto made a big save with 30 seconds left to keep it tied and send it into overtime.

The first overtime was back and forth with no real threats, but once again Hermanto had to make a big save in the final seconds to keep it tied and send it into a second overtime. That set the stage for the overtime heroics with Sophya Papa clinching it for the Wolves.

“You have to keep it cool in overtime, there’s pressure and stress, but we talked to the girls about composure and they did it,” John Jay coach Dave Nuttall said of his team. “The first half we did really well and kept the pressure on. They put the pressure on us in the second half and we had to reset for overtime. Mykel made a great delivery to the back post, Lila got up and headed it back across the goal and Sophya was there to put it in the net.”

John Jay had to work overtime just to get to the championship game as the No. 2 seeded Wolves hosted No. 3 seed Mahopac in the semifinals on Oct. 29. After the two teams battled to a 0-0 tie at the end of regulation, John Jay dominated the overtime period as the ball never left the Mahopac end of the field. Five minutes into the first overtime, Mykel Papa drilled a long direct kick that was perfectly placed just under the crossbar and just over the fingertips of the Mahopac goalie for the only goal of the game as John Jay moved on to the finals.

“It was a great game against a great Mahopac team, and in a big game like that it comes down to individual moments and Mykel is fantastic in those situations,” Nuttall said of Papa. “She was composed and it was a great way to finish it.”

With the victory, John Jay moved on to the New York State Class AA tournament, where the Wolves faced Section 9 champion Warwick in the first round on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at Nyack. The Wolves won again, defeating Warwick 2-1 to head on to the state quarterfinals, where John Jay will face West Islip on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 1:30 p.m., back on the field at Nyack High School.