There’s little doubt that Stefanee Pace was the best girls’ soccer player to ever come out of Kearny High School. A Parade All-American during her days with the Kardinals, Pace scored more than 100 goals and collected more than 100 assists before heading off to play at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.
So it made all the sense in the world a little more than three years ago, that when former girls’ soccer coach Vin Almeida moved up to replace John Miller as the Kearny athletic director, the only move would be to ask Pace to move from Secaucus High, where she coached for two years, to take over at her alma mater, which she most graciously did.
During that span, Stefanee Pace married professional baseball player Patrick Kivlehan, the former Rutgers football/baseball standout who played in the major leagues with the Cincinnati Reds.
The former Stefanee Pace fit in well with her alma mater, winning Hudson County Tournament championships in each of her three seasons as head coach. She also had a daughter, Kylee, a year ago.
But when the girls’ high school soccer season ended recently, Pace Kivlehan knew that her time as head coach at her alma mater had come to an end. She submitted her resignation last week.
“I think it is a little bittersweet,” said Kivlehan, who is now teaching in Waldwick, where she resides with her family. “I coached girls’ soccer for a long time, first with Kearny Thistle and then Secaucus and finally Kearny. I loved coaching and I wish I could continue. But with our lifestyle, I want to make sure I raise Kylee the right way.”
Kivlehan said that her husband’s career had a lot to do with the decision. He just recently signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays’ organization and if he doesn’t make the major league roster in spring training, then Kivlehan will be assigned to play Class AAA in Buffalo, N.Y.
“We did a lot of traveling last summer and I really wasn’t there for the girls during summer training,” Kivlehan said. “It’s bittersweet for me, because I got to see a lot of these girls grow up from Thistle on to Kearny High. It’s always a ‘Kearny Pride’ thing. You always have that ‘Kearny Pride’ thing for the rest of your lives. Kearny soccer players always have that edge that other people know.”
Kivlehan said that she told her players of the decision last week, after the Kardinals lost to Ridgewood via penalty kicks in the second round of the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group IV state playoffs.
“It’s tough to see how far we could have gone with this team,” Kivlehan said. “We had a really good group. We had a nice night together. We collected the uniforms and then I told them I was leaving. There were tears on both ends. I told them that it breaks my heart that I can’t be there for them as they move forward. They all spent a lot of effort for me. Some of them I had before high school and that’s the tough part. I’ve been a lot of them for a long time.”
Kivlehan said that she told Almeida of her decision before the meeting with the girls and that she would help if needed in finding a replacement.
Matt Sleece, the long-time assistant coach and nephew of legendary coach and athletic director John Millar, is the frontrunner to be Kivlehan’s replacement, but Sleece also just started a family, so it remains to be seen who will take over the program.
Although the Kardinals will lose Skyler Matusz, the school’s No. 2 all-time leading career goal scorer with 107 career goals, to graduation and American University, as well as standout goalkeeper Cat Canaley, the Kardinals are not bereft of talent.
“At one point this year, we started three sophomores and three freshmen,” Kivlehan said. “There’s a lot of talent in Kearny. The best thing about Kearny is having a program like Thistle. There should be no problem building it back up.”
Kivlehan wanted to thank a handful of people for her time in Kearny.
“I just wanted to send a thank you to Paul Mullins for getting me involved in the Thistle program when I graduated college,” Kivlehan said. “And to Mr. (Mickey) Rusek (Kivlehan’s coach at Kearny High) for being that coach that inspired me to want to do more for the kids in the area. And to obviously Pat and my parents for always being at every game, even when I was just coaching,” Kivlehan said. “It’s the end of soccer officially for the Paces. My parents are taking it tougher than me.”
Stefanee and her two sisters, Samantha and Sydney, were also great soccer players and athletes at Kearny High. Sydney still plays softball at William Paterson University.
“It’s a tough for me and tough for my husband, because we both enjoyed it,” Kivlehan said. “But I was constantly on the field and it’s been difficult, especially with my new life. I’m excited to see what the new chapter brings. It will be nice to see what they’re all doing with their soccer lives.”
CAPTION
Former Kearny High School girls’ soccer coach Stefanee Pace Kivlehan announced her resignation as head coach last week after three seasons coaching at her alma mater. Photo by Jim Hague
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Jim Hague | Observer Sports Writer
Sports Writer Jim Hague was with The Observer for 20+ years — and his name is one of the most recognizable in all of sports journalism. The St. Peter’s Prep and Marquette alum kicked off his journalism career post Marquette at the Daily Record, where he remained until 1985. Following shorts stints at two other newspapers, in September 1986, he joined the now-closed Hudson Dispatch, where he remained until 1991, when its doors were finally shut.
It was during his tenure at The Dispatch that Hague’s name and reputation as one of country’s hardest-working sports reporters grew. He won several New Jersey Press Association and North Jersey Press Club Awards in that timeframe.
In 1991, he became a columnist for The Hudson Reporter chain of newspapers — and he remains with them to this day.
In addition to his work at The Observer and The Hudson Reporter, Hague is also an Associated Press stringer, where he covers Seton Hall University men’s basketball, New York Red Bulls soccer and occasionally, New Jersey Devils hockey.
He’s also doing work at The Morristown Daily Record, the very newspaper where his journalism career began.
During his career, he also worked for Dorf Feature Services, which provided material for the Star-Ledger. While there, he covered the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets.
Hague is also known for his announcing work — and he’s done PA work for Rutgers Newark and NJIT.
Hague is the author of the book “Braddock: The Rise of the Cinderella Man.”