Morristown embraces Women's World Cup victory

MORRISTOWN – Connor Lade blended right into the crowd at Grasshopper off the Green on Sunday afternoon. Wearing a white T-shirt trimmed with stars and stripes, the Red Bull New York defender was right at home watching the United States women's national team defeat Japan, 5-2, in the FIFA Women's World Cup final.

But Lade might have seen things a little differently on Sunday, breaking the game down as a player rather than just an ordinary fan.

"They haven't been really explosive offensively, but their defense has kept them in games," said Lade, who grew up in Morristown. "They have a lot of weapons offensively. If defense does win championships, that's going to take them through."

Lade, a 5-foot-5 center back who started for four years at Morristown and St. John's University paused and grinned, "But maybe I'm biased."

Crowds grew larger and more boisterous in the final half-hour before kickoff, as did the number of patrons wearing some combination of red, white and blue. Teachers Greg Jablonski of Vernon and Sarah Guza of Morristown had arrived at about 4:30 p.m. to get a prime table near one of the huge flat-screen TVs, as they'd done for men's World Cup matches last summer.

An American-themed musical medley — Tom Petty's "American Girl, "American Woman" by The Guess Who — boomed over the sound system at halftime. The victory was capped by "Born in the U.S.A.," doubly appropriate in Morristown.

"New Jersey likes soccer," said Jablonski, who coaches the junior varsity boys team at Vernon, and teaches seventh- and eighth-grade world history. "We play aggressively. It's an entertaining game to watch. It's a culture of tenacity, aggression and respect."

Four of the United States women — midfielders Carli Lloyd (Delran), Heather O'Reilly (East Brunswick) and Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge), and defender Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant) — are from New Jersey. That was a point of particular pride for Joanna Scott of Summit, a rising sophomore at Penn State who was doing homework for an online linear algebra class before kickoff.

Lloyd had a hat trick in the first 16 minutes of the final on Sunday, and the volume at the Grasshopper's second-floor bar quickly rose to eardrum-shattering levels. It is the first hat trick in a Women's World Cup final.

Heath added an insurance goal for the Americans in the 54th minute, just after Japan had scored its second goal. Rampone, the oldest player in Women's World Cup history at 40, is the only one to be part of the 1999 and 2015 U.S. title teams.

The United States is the first nation to win three Women's World Cups.

"I always looked up to them when I was playing soccer," said Scott, who was 3 years old when the Americans won in '99. "I really want them to win, and reclaim their title as the best in the world. They have a lot of heart when they play. It's great that they're so popular, and everyone watches them when they play — and they're women."

Do the high TV ratings — and increased profits at any establishment showing games — prove women's soccer finally arrived in America? That question has been asked long since the United States won its last World Cup.

Player involvement and development has grown worldwide since '99 as well, with more parity across the expanded World Cup brackets. Most gathered at the Grasshopper agreed the United States were the favorite in Sunday's final — regardless of the disappointing result four years ago.

"There's more interest and passion for the game than when I grew up watching it," said Next Gen USA coach Meredith Rooney, 32, of Morris Plains, who brought 47 female youth players to two World Cup matches in Canada last week.

" For soccer in America, there's an understanding that it's not easy, and we have to work a lot harder to be a lot better in the next four years. ... There's been a lot of controversy about the U.S. women's national team. To see them be successful and play the most important game in the tournament is fulfilling."

Staff Writer Jane Havsy: 973-428-6682; jhavsy@gannettnj.com; www.dailyrecord.com/writerjane/