JERRY WOLKOWITZ Brookdale’s Lauren Nangano, of Marlboro, lines up a shot against Essex County on Saturday.
Up and down his line-up, Frank Lawrence, the Brookdale Community College women’s soccer coach, is looking at talent.
The Blues have some of the top Shore area players on the roster. The only problem for the Jersey Blues and Lawrence is that the roster is a little thin.
"Our overall talent is fine," said Lawrence. "Right now we have some minor injuries from playing three games in five days. Our kids are beat up and we’ve been struggling. We don’t have the depth to give people a rest in a game."That’s a problem right now."
A 14-player roster that has been shortened by some nagging injuries has put the Jersey Blues in an early season bind, but they are playing through it. On the plus side, Lawrence is looking at a talented and experienced team that has eight players back from last fall’s 14-5-1 squad.
"It’s nice to have that many players returning who have played at this level before, who know what it takes and the sacrifices that have to be made," he said.
Heather Andrews, the ex-Raritan Rocket, Freehold Township grad Vita Rizzo and Sherri Cate of Matawan are three such returners who have very important roles as midfielders. One of the keys to the Lincroft college’s success will be how well they do distributing the ball up front to the Blues’ talented forwards. That is where the midfielders come into play and in veterans like Andrews, Rizzo and Cate, Brookdale has playmakers. Freshman Erica Lorenzo, from Raritan High School, is an important addition to the midfield corps.
Gina D’Alessio, of Middletown South, is the top returning forward. She tallied 12 goals in 1999. Another return is Carrie O’Gorman of Long Branch. Replacing Lisa Fiorillo, the school’s first two-time soccer All-American who scored 53 goals in two years, will be difficult, but Lawrence believes he has enough forwards who can score to make up for Fiorillo’s loss.
Freshman newcomer Lauren Nangano of Marlboro is a key addition for the Jersey Blues because she is just what the doctor ordered, a scorer. Another freshman, Tara Lomicky, from St. John Vianney, Holmdel, boosts the team’s midfield play.
"Both Lauren and Gina can score," noted Lawrence. "I’m not concerned about our ability to score. We just need our midfielders to get the ball to our forwards in the right places."
Thus far, the Blues have been doing a good job at both, getting the ball to the forwards and having them score. The team is currently 2-2, and all of its important players have already scored. Last Wednesday, the Jersey Blues beat perennial Garden State Athletic Conference power Ocean, 6-0. D’Alessio, Nangano and O’Gorman all deposited scores for the Blues. Rizzo scored a pair in the game and midfield mate Cate tallied one as well.
Defensively, Brookdale is rock solid with sweeper Dana Pagano of Middletown North and backs Lori McDermott of Middletown South and Danielle Soden from Manasquan all returning. They provide an experienced unit whose players are very familiar with each other. Dawn Tardogno, a freshman from Manalapan, gives the team another steady and dependable back. Tardogno is a very versatile back who is capable of bringing the ball up field and joining the attack.
The addition of freshmen Brittany Jacobs from Monmouth Regional and Deanna Piovesan of Old Bridge gives the team more flexibility in the backfield.
At the last line of defense, in the net, the Blues have a very reliable tandem in Danielle Willis, who helped lead Brick Memorial to a state championship last fall and returner Tanya Driscoll, a Middletown North grad. Both goalies have the ability to play the field as well, providing the team with an additional field player if needed.
Even with the early season nicks and bruises and lack of depth, Lawrence is confident he has another contending team.
"I’m expecting us to be one of the best teams in the conference [Garden State Athletic Conference] and Region XIX," he said. "I think the conference is more balanced this year, but I still expect us to be in the top two or three."
BCC is well on the way toward that. Despite their 2-2 start, BCC is 2-0 in GSAC play and has a win over rival Ocean already. Lawrence has his team playing a challenging schedule this fall to prepare them for the post season. This week, they have challenging games against Champlain, Vt., (Friday) and Genesee, N.Y., (Saturday) on the road. The Jersey Blues are home for a Region XIX and Garden State Athletic Conference tilt with Mercer on Sept. 27 (3:30 p.m.). On Sept. 30, BCC will host Morris at noon in another Region and GSAC game.

