Vikings top Lady Bombers, 3-2, in season opener at Sayreville
By: Carolyn M. Hartko
The last time South Brunswick and Sayreville High Schools faced each other on a girls’ soccer field, a division title was at stake. That was at the end of the 1999 season, and the Vikings walked away with the game, and the Greater Middlesex Conference’s White Division crown.
It’s a different ballgame this year, since the Vikings have moved up into the Red Division, but a victory against one of the top contenders in the old division is still sweet.
The Vikings topped the Lady Bombers 3-2 in Tuesday’s season opener at Sayreville, setting the tone for their new campaign. It w as also the first varsity win for new head coach Nancy Ducko.
"We’re very excited," the coach said. "We knew that we wanted to make a statement in our first game as a Red Division team, and we were able to do that. It’s early in the season, but I was very pleased with how the girls played. They played pretty well together as a team, especially in the second half. They’re really starting to come together."
Ducko described the game as a hard-fought, even match. But it was also an unusual soccer game in that all the scoring took place in the first 30 minutes, and the first three goals were on the board 15 minutes after the opening whistle.
Sayreville opened the scoring in the third minute, but SB answered quickly with two goals by junior striker Kiana Johnson, both off assists from her twin sister Cherise.
"Kiana’s first goal was beautiful," Ducko said. "There was a nice cross from Cherise, and Kiana finished with a head ball."
About eight minutes after that first Viking score, Cherise sent a free kick into the Sayreville box, setting off a scramble outside the goal. Several Vikings got a piece of it before Kiana slipped it past Bomber keeper Melissa Braun. A few minutes later, the Bombers tied the game on a similar play in South’s defensive third.
The game winner came amidst another crowd scene in front of Sayreville’s goal. Junior midfielder Monica Mangual put a nice ball in from the right side, and this time it was Cherise who put the finishing touch on it.
The remainder of the game became a defensive struggle, with both goalies coming up with key saves. In goal for the Vikings, junior Rebecca Dezan had 16 saves, and Braun registered 17. The game was pretty even offensively, with SB outshooting Sayreville by a slim margin, 20-16.
"It was definitely a good game," Ducko said. "There was a lot of back and forth. In my opinion, we dominated the second half, but both teams worked hard. It was a good match-up."
The Vikings have their first test in the Red Division today (Thursday) when they travel to East Brunswick. The Bears once again start out the season with the number one ranking in the conference. A key to beating them this year will be stopping talented sophomore Heather O’Reilly who led EB’s offense last year with 40 goals and 20 assists.
"I know it’s going to be tough against East Brunswick, but the girls are excited," Ducko said. "They’ve been working hard. We had a good game against them two years ago in the county finals that went into overtime. So we don’t feel we’re out of it. We know we have to come on strong."