The area girls’ soccer teams, Brearley and Cranford, continued their impressive seasons by both going undefeated last week to improve their combined records to 9-1-1. The only blemishes are from Cranford, which has lost to the state’s third ranked team Westfield and also has a tie with Montclair, ranked fourth at the time.
On Friday September 25, Brearley had its biggest scare thus far o
Janine Casale scored twice, punctuated by a golden goal in overtime that sent Brearley to a 2-1 victory over Kent Place yesterday in Summit.
Samantha Hoag picked up her second assist of the match for Brearley (5-0) when she found Casale, who put away a 25-yard shot with seven minutes elapsed in the first overtime. Kent Place (1-3) gained a 1-0 lead on a score from Amanda Rhodes in the ninth
minute. Casale drew Brearley even in the 61st minute.
1st 2nd OT1 Final
Brearley (5-0) 0 1 1 2
Kent Place (1-3) 1 0 0 1
Goals: Brearley Janine Casale 2. Kent Place Amanda Rhodes.
Assists: Brearley Samantha Hoag 2.
Shots: Brearley 15. Kent Place 9.
Saves: Brearley Krissy Pinho 5. Kent Place Liza Kowalik 10.
Amanda Filippone touched in a cross by Samantha Hoag in the 14th minute for Brearley (4-0) in Kenilworth. Stephanie Hand supplied two goals and two assists while Hoag scored once and set up three goals. Roselle Catholic (2-3) got a first-half goal from Melissa Tobie.
1st 2nd Final
Roselle Catholic (2-3) 1 0 1
Brearley (4-0) 5 3 8
Goals: Roselle Catholic melissa tobie. Brearley Stephanie Hand 2. Janine Casale. Vienna Conde. Amanda Filippone. Samantha Hoag. Tania Miranda. Brittany Santos.
Assists: Roselle Catholic Alexandra Ramirez. Brearley Samantha Hoag 3. Stephanie Hand 2. Janine Casale. Ariel Walker.
Shots: Roselle Catholic 3. Brearley 17.
Saves: Roselle Catholic Erin Nahaczewski 10. Brearley Krissy Pinho 3.
The Star Ledger, September 25, 2009 7:39 p.m.
Two goals from Sarah Dowzycki and another from Michelle Gargiulo staked Cranford (5-0-1) to a 3-0 halftime lead in Scotch Plains. Gargiulo and Julianne Salerno each added a goal in the second half. Union Catholic is 3-3.
1st 2nd Final
Union Catholic (3-3-0) 0 0 0
Cranford (5-0-1) 3 2 5
Goals: Cranford Sarah Dowzycki 2. Michelle Gargiulo 2. Julianne Salerno.
Assists: Cranford Natalie Englese 2.
Shots: Union Catholic 5. Cranford 25.
Saves: Union Catholic SAMANTHA PAULS 10. Cranford Genevieve Chaleff.
The Cranford girls soccer team notched a 3-0 victory against the talented Kent Place High School team Thursday afternoon.
Employing ball control skills, passing and aggressive play, the Lady Cougars were able to distribute the ball efficiently and take advantage of scoring opportunities. Cranford was in attack mode all afternoon. The team kept its tempo fast-paced throughout the game. They were able to post over 15 shots on goal.
This game provided a chance for the Lady Cougars to overcome last week's difficult loss against Westfield.
“This win was definitely important," said head coach Jen Michewicz. "Kent Place is a good team… they usually get a six or seven seed, so this was a good way to come back from the tough loss against Westfield.”
The team seemed to utilize an aggressive, net-crashing mentality that the coaching staff stressed in practice.
“We took advantage of scoring opportunities, and played through all 80 minutes, said Michewicz of today’s performance.
One standout player was Sarah Dozycki, who scored two goals in the game and made an effort to turn chances into points for the Lady Cougars.
“She played with a sense of urgency today, which is something we’ve been pushing for," said Michewicz.
While Dozycki scored two goals, she emphasized that teamwork was the key to victory in today’s game.
“We were passing a lot more, and I feel like we’re improving as a team," she said. “This was really important for us, we were going through a down swing and this picked us up.”
Senior co-captain Jen Folger made a lot of key plays that demonstrated the great ball control that the Lady Cougars displayed all afternoon. She set up one goal in the second half with a skillful pass across the net that put the game out of reach.
While Thursday’s win was exciting, Michewicz still urged the team to work on some things, like holding onto the ball. However, the team looks energized and ready to take on the remainder of the season. The Lady Cougars look fully recovered from a tough loss that seems to have made them stronger.
Jen Folger believes her Cranford team has been handed a golden opportunity this season.
``Most of us are seniors and we’ve been playing together for a long time,’’ Folger said. ``We know that this our last chance to really do something special.’’
Coming off a confidence-boosting, scoreless tie against Essex County powerhouse Montclair in its season opener, Cranford was looking to extend its solid play against visiting Gov. Livingston yesterday. That would be no easy feat, because the squad from Berkeley Heights received a shot of adrenaline over the weekend by playing to a scoreless tie with Union County Tournament finalist Johnson to open its season.
It was Cranford that imposed its will upon Gov. Livingston and, bolstered by Folger’s superior play, earned a 3-1 victory at Memorial Field in Cranford.
Folger, a senior midfielder who finished with two assists, supplied the play of the game. In the final minute of the first half, she sprinted down the right sideline to save a through ball from reaching the end line, then sent a crossing pass to the middle, where Rebecca Shafer hammered it home for a 2-1 Cranford lead.
In the 61st minute, Folger helped supply the insurance goal when she turned her back to the goal and fed Jamie Webb, who cracked an 18-yard blast past Gov. Livingston keeper Kristen Masullo (nine saves).
``First of all her ball control is excellent – I think she’s one of the best in the county with the ball at her feet – and she has a view of the entire field,’’ Cranford coach Jen Michewicz said of Folger. ``She’s a big reason why the team is excited about what we can do this season.’’
Cranford’s 20-player roster boasts 13 seniors, and those girls are especially anxious to erase the memories of a season of underachievement. Last season, Michewicz’ team was 8-5-2 before losing its final four matches, including a 3-0 loss to Manasquan in the first round of the Central Jersey, Group 2 tournament.
``Especially after last year, when we thought we should have won a little more, we don’t want that to happen again,’’ Folger said.
Cranford came out challenging every loose ball, and appeared to fight even harder after Gov. Livingston claimed a 1-0 lead just four minutes into the match. Senior Katie Pires got the visitors on the board when she lofted a loose ball over Cranford goalie Genevieve Chaleff (five saves).
Cranford evened the contest in the 26th minute when Danielle Jakubik beat a defender on a dead sprint with the ball and slipped the ball past a charging Masullo, using a feathery touch to hit the ball off the left post and into the net.
Gov. Livingston was not as big of a factor on the ball in the second half as it was in the first. Coach Mike Roof attributed that to Cranford’s talent level and to his team’s own inconsistency.
``We definitely took a step back today,’’ Roof said. ``They’re definitely a good team, and we can’t play just 40 minutes against a team with that kind of ability.’’
1st 2nd Final
Gov. Livingston (0-1-1) 1 0 1
Cranford (1-0-1) 2 1 3
Goals: Gov. LivingstonCranford Danielle Jakubik. Rebecca Shafer. Jamie Webb.
Assists: Cranford Jen Folger 2.
Shots: Gov. Livingston 5. Cranford 11.
Saves: Gov. Livingston Kristen Masulo 9. Cranford Genevieve Chaleff 5.
The Cranford girls soccer team started attacking just as the whistle blew at the start of the game on Friday afternoon.
Coming into the Memorial Field match, Union Catholic loooked to be a tough competitor, having lost its last couple of games to Summit and Governor Livingston by only one goal.
“We knew that they were a good team and only won 1-0 last season to them,” said forward Sarah Dowzycki.
Yet the Lady Cougars would not allow the Vikings any thoughts of a victory.
The Cranford strikers started pelting Union Catholic goal keeper Samantha Pauls from the start and the Lady Cougars had a 2-0 lead in the first 12 minutes of the game.
Cranford would not relent and would go on to a dominating 5-0 victory over the Vikings that would push the Lady Cougars’ record to 4-1-1.
Four different Cranford players scored, led by Dowzycki with a pair of goals. Michele Gargiulo, Victoia Labrutto and Julianne Salerno also notched a goal.
Dowzycki and the Lady Cougars have come a long way from the 6-0 loss at home two weeks ago to Westfield in the third game of the season.
“Since then we felt that we had to do more passing and be more aggressive,” said Dowzycki.
Cranford head coach Jen Michewicz agreed that they have started to take it more to the opponent.
“We’ve been working on our attack and especially on that half of the field,” said Michiewicz.
Dowzycki scored the team’s first two goals. The first came after a feed from Taylor D’Antico and Dowzycki struck a shot from 15 yards out that went past Pauls.
Minutes later, Jen Folger fed Dowzycki on a shot in front of Pauls and she struck it past the Union Catholic goal keeper for a 2-0 lead.
“It’s funny with Sarah,” said Michewicz. “She is one of my favorite players because she is so consistent. She is not going to stand out all the time. She works hard and I am glad she is hitting the back of the net.”
In addition, the Lady Cougars have been working on their crossover on the opponents end. The hard work seems to be paying off as three of the five goals came on the crossovers.
Nothing demonstrated it more than Cranford’s third goal as Jen Folger drove from just past midfield to the left of Union Catholic goal keeper Pauls and with a defender hanging on her. She kicked it into the middle in front of Pauls and Gargiulo tapped it in for a 3-0 goal with a little less than 18 minutes remaining in the first half.
The goal allowed the Lady Cougars to control the play the rest of the way.
In the second half, Natalie Englese fed Labrutto who placed it past Paul with 14 minutes into the final half. Then with less than nine minutes in the game, Jamie Webb kicked it to Salerno who placed it past the Vikings’ goalie for the final score.
The Lady Cougars will try to extend their three-game winning streak on Tuesday at Roselle Catholic at 4 p.m.
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