With 17 minutes remaining in the half, Quickstrike was moving through the Parsippany defense when a Parsippany defender intercepted a ball and first-timed a ball of Quickstrike’s back line. Merrilyn Esteve broke well on the ball and was quickly in alone against D’Agostino. Two touches to her left and a third, hard to the opposite sideline negated the angle taken on the ball by the keeper. Esteve, her and the goal, safely placed the first score of the 2007 Super-20 League North American Finals in the back of the net.

The rest of the half was disconnected by a pair of lengthy injury timeouts to two busiest players on the field: D’Agostino and Ryan.

A bit more intense and much more physical in the second half, Parsippany controlled play 60/40 or better. Their midfield expertly provided cover for their already stout defense. An opportunity for an insurance goal with 20 minutes remaining was cut out by D’Agostino, but more importantly New Jersey’s attack was gobbling huge chunks of playing time.

They held the ball increasingly nearing the final whistle, but Quickstrike still needed just one chance to pull level. Parsippany could smell what they had longed for since last season’s crushing defeat in penalties to the Washington Freedom – a national championship of the U.S. and Canada. They turned their attack loose on the corner flag in order to run the clock further into the ground.

Desperation gave way and Quickstrike was able to mount an attack but this day belonged to Parsippany. They held on for a well deserved 1-0 victory.

“This weekend was a difficult task for us,” said Parsippany Head Coach Dominick Bucci. “Having the Freedom and MPS U20’s in our group was a test each day. They were two very strong sides that gave us everything we could handle.”

“I also want to thank Quickstrike’s Head Coach Jesse Kolmel for his side’s great competition,” said Bucci. “I really respect everything he has been able to do as a first year club. They played a great match today and I am sure they will be back here again, many times in the future.”

Bucci named midfielder Ingrid Wells the 2007 Super-20 League MVP following the match.

“Between getting the win over the Freedom on Friday and setting things right for the loss we suffered during the regular season against Quickstrike, this has been a great weekend for me and my teammates,” said Wells, a freshman at Georgetown University. “This team is a combination of freshman coming back from college and girls from the club. After we all got comfortable with one another this season the wins started piling up. It’s a great feeling to accomplish our goal of getting back here this season.”