By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher Ask any high school sports coach and they will tell you, without hesitation — if you have quality seniors who show leadership and are willing to do whatever is asked of them, whenever it is asked, you have a chance to have a pretty good season. There’s a reason the Oakcrest girls soccer team came into the second week of October sporting a 5-1-1 record and was ranked as one of the top teams in the Cape-Atlantic League by nj.com — it’s because the Falcons have players such as Ashlee Conover. Conover is a starting midfielder for the Falcons, but in a game against Mainland Regional on Sept. 28 she was pressed into service as an emergency goalkeeper, a position she has only played a handful of times in her life and hadn’t played since the 2014 preseason. Early in the second half of an eventual 1-1 tie with the Mustangs, Oakcrest star freshman keeper Brielle Smith was knocked in the head after colliding with Mainland’s Ali Nazarok while trying to make a save. Smith came off her line to corral a loose ball and Nazarok was trying to beat her to the spot to get the go-ahead goal. The two collided, and Smith, who had a knot above her right eye, was taken to the sidelines as a precautionary measure. She ended up missing the rest of the game. Oakcrest coach Jason Hearn tossed Conover a yellow pinny and told her the Falcons needed her to be the emergency goalkeeper — and keep them in the game. To understand the difficulty of what Conover was asked to do, think about a baseball team and having to put somebody behind the plate as a catcher in a varsity game when that player has relatively little experience at that position. Also, after giving up an early goal, the Mustangs had their ears pinned back and were putting tremendous pressure on the Oakcrest defense. “She’s a four-year varsity girl, a captain, and that’s what we try to impress upon these girls. It’s more about your team than yourself,” Hearn said after the game. “She didn’t expect that coming in here today. And for me to be like, ‘OK, here’s a pinny.’ And she did it, without even a complaint. It was real nice to see.” 
Senior captain Ashlee Conover stepped up big time during a game against Mainland Regional in late September, finishing with a dozen saves as a goalie after moving from her midfield position in the second half following an injury to starting keeper Brielle Smith. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) “I knew I had to step up for my team. I’ve played goalie a few times before in my life. I knew it would be hard, but I had to do it for my team,” Conover said. “It’s scary because you feel like you shouldn’t use your hands because you are so used to using your feet, so you get confused a little bit. But after the first couple of shots the muscle memory comes back to you.” Conover credited her defensive line of Lindsay Backanskas, Haleigh Whitcraft and Abby Silver with helping her stay focused. They did a tremendous job holding down the fort in Smith’s absence. “(Backanskas) played great. I was in her ear the whole time telling her she needed to be there for me, and she was,” Conover said. “I think this game was important because we had two girls go down, so we needed everybody to help and pitch in and do their part, and they did amazing.” Making the situation even more difficult was the fact that Jana White, who had scored Oakcrest’s goal early in the first half, was injured on that play and missed the rest of the game. A lot of people talk about leadership, but at the high school level you have the earn the right to wear that captain’s band. Following Conover’s lead, several other upperclassmen who were asked to play many more minutes than they normally do came through with stellar performances to help the Falcons get a result in what could easily have been a 3-1 or 4-1 loss. Conover came in and right away began making saves, and that inspired the defense in front of her to keep digging deep and producing a solid effort despite the pressure Mainland was mounting in the second half and in both overtime periods. “We were scrambling, but they stepped up. We had some girls who got some extra time, which was nice, and they showed that they can handle it. If they can step up against a team like Mainland, we know down the road when we need them, we can count on them,” Hearn said. “They really dug deep. I told them this is really where we test our resolve. We needed to dig deep and leave nothing behind, and for the most part they did that. It was nice to see some upperclassmen contributing in some positions.” Even Mainland coach Kyle Clayton was impressed with Conover’s performance, given the circumstances. “It’s hard to see a girl go down and not be able to re-enter the game, so that was unfortunate for them. However, that girl played well. I thought she did a really nice job,” Clayton said after the game. “For her not to have really played that position before, that was pretty impressive.” Conover finished with a dozen saves, including an outstanding save on a corner kick in traffic. She leaped to deflect a shot, and her defense was able to clear out the rebound before Mainland had a chance to get a foot on the loose ball. What was most impressive about Conover’s performance was that she didn’t play scared. She took command in the box, came off her line when she needed to, and exuded the type of confidence that a senior needs to when the chips are down and the team is looking for someone to step up and provide leadership. When high school kids get out into the real world and begin to enter the work force, they will find that many companies like prospective employees to have sports backgrounds, for various reasons. They like that athletes have a competitive nature, and that they won’t quit when faced with adversity. Most importantly, businesses look for people who can be counted on. The Oakcrest girls soccer team may not win the state championship this year. They might not even win the conference championship. In the long run, the final record will be forgotten. But one thing will remain — Ashlee Conover proved, to herself and those around her, that she can be counted on when it matters most. And that will serve her well beyond her high school athletic career. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]
Commentary: Ashlee Conover came through when the Oakcrest girls soccer team needed her
