1989 Girls Soccer Team

1989 Girls Soccer Team

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The 1989 Girls Soccer Team was the most outstanding team of Hall of Fame Coach Ed Troy’s incredibly successful tenure as Head Coach of Glen Rock High School Girls Soccer.

Glen Rock High School began fielding a varsity girls soccer team in 1978. In 1984, Hall of Fame inductee Ed Troy began a seven-season tenure as the team’s Head Coach. Coach Troy was an experienced and successful soccer coach (having led the boys soccer team to Group, Sectional Championships in 1979 and 1981) and an experienced and successful coach of girls athletics (having coached and then still continuing to coach girls in cross country and track & field).

The 1984 girls soccer team won the school’s first B-PSL Championship in girls soccer and won the Division B (Groups 1 & 2), State Co-Championship after a 3-3 tie with Delran. The team’s final record was 19-2-2 and it was named Groups 1 & 2, Bergen County Team of the Year by The Bergen Record. For putting Glen Rock High School on the map in New Jersey Interscholastic Sports, the 1984 team was inducted into the Glen Rock High School Hall of Fame in the organization’s 2008 inaugural year.

During Coach Troy’s seven-season tenure, six of his teams won Group, Sectional Championships and four of them were subsequently crowned Group, State Champions or Co-Champions.

The 1989 Team is recognized as the most outstanding of those seven teams. It was undefeated in regular season play and easily won the B-PSL, Carpenter Championship. Before the State Tournament, its only loss was in the Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals. Now competing in the Group 2, State Tournament, Glen Rock defeated Mahwah by a score of 1-0 and then defeated Hopatcong by a score of 4-0 to win the Group 2, Sectional Championship (and the school’s fifth consecutive Sectional Championship). It then defeated Chatham to win the Group 2, North Jersey Championship. Sophomore Dana Thomas, junior and future Hall of Fame inductee Michele Leonard and junior and fellow future Hall of Fame inductee Megan Burke scored for Glen Rock — but Chatham repeatedly responded with goals to tie the game 3-3. In the subsequent shootout, sophomore Stephanie Ohlandt scored the winner for Glen Rock.

Glen Rock then played undefeated (20-0-2) Cinnaminson in the Group 2, State Championship game. With both teams having averaged approximately 5 goals per game (Glen Rock with 109 goals in 22 games and Cinnaminson with 111 goals in 21 games), pundits predicted a high scoring game. But it ended as a 0-0 tie after overtime, and the two teams were crowned Co-Champions.

The 1989 Girls Soccer Team finished the season with a 21-1-1 record, having scored 109 goals and having only allowed 11 goals. It had an outstanding offense, with Michelle Leonard producing 37 goals and 15 assists, Megan Burke producing 21 goals and 11 assists and Leigh Miller producing 20 goals and 19 assists. Junior Katie Shoemaker led the team’s defense from her sweeper position.

The Bergen Record named the 1989 Team the Groups 1 & 2 Team of the Year in Bergen County.

At the end of the season, Michelle was named to the Third Team, All-Group, All-State; the First Team, All-County; the First Team, All-Suburban; and the First Team, All-B-PSL. Katie was named to the First Team, All-County; the Second Team, All-Suburban; and the First Team, All-B-PSL.  and Megan was named to the Second Team, All-County; the First Team, All-Suburban; and the First Team, All-B-PSL. In addition, Michelle and Katie were named to the First Team, Group 2, All-State and Megan was named to the Second Team, Group 2, All-State.

Displaying the strength of the team, Michelle, Katie, Megan and senior midfielders Blaire Martin and Margaret Dolan were named to the First Team, All-B-PSL, junior defender Maura Fortescue and junior forward Leigh Miller were named to the Second Team, All-B-PSL, and sophomore midfielder Amy Lautermilch received Honorable Mention.  

Coach Troy coached the Group 1, Sectional Champion 1990 Team before retiring from coaching. Future Hall of Fame inductee Tracy Trobiano coached Glen Rock’s girls soccer teams over much of the next 23 seasons (from the 1992 season through the 2014 season, except when Meredith Guerin assumed the position for three seasons, 2002 through 2004). In those 23 seasons, Glen Rock was league champion in 21 of those seasons, was Sectional Champion in 9 of those seasons, and was crowned State Champions or Co-Champions in 7 of those seasons. In 2019, the State Champion 1999 Team was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

As a result, Glen Rock has won a total of eleven State Titles, the third most of any high school in New Jersey, only exceeded by non-public Morris Catholic and regional Ramapo Regional High School

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Head Coach – Ed Troy

Assistant Coach – Bill Carbone