Soccer Games

 In a battle for the top spot in A South # 4 Brick Memorial (5-1-1) defeated #9 Central Regional (5-2-1) 4-3 in a game that did not disappoint the fans.  These two teams exchanged goals in a back and forth game for 80 minutes.  Brick Memorial was able to come back from trailing 3-2 by scoring two goals within about a minute of each other. Junior Mia Caruso was able to tie the game after getting a pass from junior Chloe Gellici. A minute later twin sister Lexi Caruso scored the game winning goal, her second of the game, after a blast from senior Emily DeAlmeida was deflected by Central Regional goalie, junior Erika Kangas, and Caruso was in the right spot to put in the rebound.  "It was crazy," Caruso said about the game winner. "I was just in the right place at the right time, Emily hit a great shot." The Mustangs were able to score first 19 minutes in when Layla Marotta made a steal and was able to beat Kangas.  That goal woke up Central Regional. They had a co...

 -Point Boro (8-0), ranked #7, moved one step closer to wrapping up B South against Barnega (5-5)t with a 3-0 victory yesterday. This marks the seventh shutout of the season for sophomore goalie Ava Bjorndahl and the tough Panthers defense.  The Panthers came out strong and had several strong scoring chances in the first 15 minutes of action. Senior Anna McCourt and sophomore Abby Hannemann used their speed and footwork to set up their teammates in the middle of the fieldfor the majority of the first half. "I just told Madison (Bjorndahl) early in the first half to hang out at the six the ball is going to come," Point Boro Coach Mike Edolo said. "Anna has proved year in and year out that she is one of the most dangerous players. She has the will, the will to beat players, the will to be dangerous. Abby has the same thing and they are two of the most dangerous players in the conference. It makes life easy for me." Point Boro was able to score their first goal when Mc...

 In a reversal of fortune for Colts Neck (5-3) this week, they defeated division opponent Manasquan (6-3) 1-0 in a game that Manasquan was the dominant team. This game turned out to be the opposite in games where Colts Neck had dominated but was unable to pull off the victory.  Colts Neck was able to score during the 60th minute when junior Valentina Sepulveda scored from about 25 yards out off a pass from junior Jami Van Orden, one of the very few chances Colts Neck had in the half.  "She scored the same one against Matawan," Colts Neck Coach Kevin Hein said. "She has a real knack from shooting for 25 out." Manasquan came out attacking in the second half and challenged the Colts Neck defense and junior goalie Mia Nikolic for majority of the half.  In the opening minutes Manasquan junior forward Kali Saito had a good shot on goal, but Nikolic was able to make the save. The following minute junior Rylie Rampone headed the ball that was saved off a cross from junior R...

 On a windy day in Point Pleasant, Point Beach (5-2) dominated Manchester (4-3) 4-0 in a non divisional matchup.  The Garnet Gulls controlled the ball with their passing and speed up front and applied a lot of pressure on the Hawks defense and junior goalie Kaia Buckley throughout the game.  Point Beach was able to strike early when freshman Bailiegh Johnson scored her first goal, a blast from about 20 yards out to go up 1-0. Manchester's offsides trap and strong defense led by junior Emily Ruff, kept the Gulls at bay for the majority of the first half. Buckley came up with some big saves, a couple point blank to keep the Hawks in the game.  "The wind was a big factor and we wanted to put as much pressure as we could early," Point Beach coach Adam Curtis said. "They held us to two goals and their goalkeeper played phenomenal." The Gulls were able to strike again in the 32nd minute when sophomore Morgan Zylinski headed a perfectly placed corner kick from sophomor...

 Every year Ocean Township Girls soccer team host the Mya Cup,  a fundraiser for Mya Terry, an Ocean Township child who lost her battle to cancer at 10 years old. With a great crowd turnout to support this cause and Ocean Township Soccer Club bringing their younger teams to support, Red Bank Regional (4-1) and Ocean Township (4-2) soccer teams put on a show that resulted in a 4-3 comeback victory for Ocean Twp in double overtime.  Trailing 2-0 going into the second half, Ocean Township was able to fight back to tie and then get the victory in overtime when senior Abigail Desmarais scored the golden goal off sophomore Isabella Santucci pass at the 92nd minute. "It was something we really wanted," Desmarais said. "We were down 2-0 in first the half and we did not give up and the crowd really helped tonight. I knew we only had a few minutes left so I knew I had to give everything." The first half started off back and forth for the first 30 minutes until the RBR senior ...

 In a very hard fought non-divisional game, the #6 Howell Rebels defeated St. Rose 2-0 to make their record 5-0-1 on the season to give them their fourth shutout of the season.  The shutout did not come easy, St. Rose had a very strong attack in the first half with several goal scoring chances, but the Rebels did not break.  St. Rose's first chance to score came when sophomore Ava Gialanella crossed the ball and senior Adriana Dalia headed the ball just over the crossbar 11 minutes in.  A minute later senior Julia Whesper had a chance to punch one in but Howell junior goalie Madison Smith made the save.  A couple minutes later Gialanella made another pass to Dalia, but they were unable to finish with the shot going over the crossbar again. Smith made another good play in goal when she came out to stop Dalia from getting an open shot off on net.  "They feed off one another," Howell Coach Miguel Arroyo said about his defense. "They have been playing together ...

 In a tough non divisional battle, #9 Colts Neck (2-2) hands Jackson Liberty (4-1) their first defeat 4-2 in a back and forth game. Rebounding after a tough loss to Matawan on Wednesday, the Cougars came out aggressive and looked to strike fast against Liberty.  Colts Neck scored 8 minutes in when senior Carys Gardiner stole the ball from a Liberty defender and crossed the ball to sophomore Olivia Gehman who put the ball in the back of the net. On the play Lions goalie, senior Camryn Wiese, was injured when she dove for the ball, and was unable to return to action.  The Cougars scored their second goal at the 36th minute when sophomore Terri Morgan made the pass to junior Nikki Cataneo and beat Liberty back up goalie, sophomore Peyton Blasi, on the right side.  Morgan and the Cougars were very effective getting the ball wide and down the field for majority of the game. "Our outside backs, especially Anna Casler, did a great job playing the ball up," Gardiner said. "S...

In a battle of two top ten teams in the Shore Conference we had #5 Brick Memorial (2-0-1) go on the road and defeat #2 Toms River North (1-1) 2-1. The victory gives the Mustangs an early edge in A South, but we have a long season ahead of us. The first victory over TRN since the 2014 season going 0-13-2 in that span.  "That is the biggest win we have had here in a long long time," Brick Memorial Head Coach Billy Caruso said.  "I am still sky high, we haven't won here since 2014." The game opened up with both teams feeling each other out and both getting a couple shots off until Brick Memorial picked up the pace.  They were able to score first when junior Gabby Hernendaz put in a cross from senior Makenzie Fanning 16 minutes into the game.  The Mustangs did not let up; they scored again three minutes later when senior Emily DeAlmedia put one past Mariner goalie, senior Kyran Thievon, from 25 yards out off a pass from Fanning, who notched her second assist of the ...

 In a B South division matchup, Central Regional (1-1-1) defeated Brick Township (0-2) 4-0 in impressive fashion.  The Eagles used their speed up front and precision passing in the midfield to open up the Dragons defense and put pressure on Brick Twp goalie, junior Trinitie Maloney, for the majority of the game.  The Eagles opened up the scoring when junior Emma Harmon scored her first of two goals of the day with a rip on the left side of the net at the twelve minute mark.  She scored her second goal in the second half when she blasted the ball from about 25 yards out at the 59th minute.   "It's exciting," Harmon said of her two goal performance. "First win of the season we need to keep that mentality going forward and do it again." Brick Township had a chance to tie it 18 minutes in when senior Cassi LoSasso missed a shot just wide of the goal.  Their next chance to score did not come until the final minute of the game when senior Taylor Horvath had ...

The battle for bragging rights in Jackson took place this morning as Jackson Memorial hosted cross town rivals Jackson Liberty. In a hard fought game by both teams, Liberty was able to get their first victory over Memorial 1-0.  Sophomore Delaney Splathoff put in a penalty kick at the 50th minute to break the tie and score the games only goal.  Liberty was awarded the penalty kick when a foul was called on Memorial senior Chloe Messner after she made a slide tackle inside the box. She cleared the ball away from the Lions attacker but the ref called the foul and awarded the penalty shot.   The first half saw a dominant Memorial team who applied all the offense for the half. Junior Renee Wanzor along with Messner gave Liberty's defense trouble and made Liberty goalie, senior Camryn Wiese work hard for her first shut-out of the season.  Liberty was able to create more offense in the second half then they did in the first half.  The speed of senior Alyssa Gal...