By: Rich Fisher
The South Brunswick High School girls’ soccer team came through its most recent string of games with two wins and a tie, raising their record to 4-1-1. The Lady Vikings got a win and a tie in home games against Hillsborough (5-2) and Piscataway (2-2), then blew Edison away 6-1 in Tuesday’s road trip.
"We’ve been having a good season so far," coach Nancy Ducko said. "The girls are really gelling together. They’re all working very, very hard. And they have a positive attitude. We’re putting passes together not as well as we can just yet but we’re getting there. Each game we improve a little bit more. The girls are starting to feel comfortable with each other. And I think they’re starting to build their confidence up, and that helps us."
The Piscataway game was a makeup for the one that should have been part of a doubleheader with the boys’ teams last Wednesday night. Those games had to be postponed because of a bomb threat at Piscataway High School. In the make-up, the Vikings and Lady Chiefs were deadlocked 2-2 at the end of regulation, and neither team was able to score in overtime.
"That was a real good game," Ducko said. "(Piscataway) is very aggressive and it was an extremely physical game. But we hung with them. It was 1-0 us at half time. We had three good opportunities right at the very end of (regulation) that would have won it for us. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t finish."
Going into overtime with such a physical team was a bit wearing, but the Vikings held on for the tie. Luckily, their game the next day was less challenging, so Ducko was able to rest a few players who got banged up on Monday. Regular starting forward Kiana Johnson, who scored one of the Viking goals against the Lady Chiefs, sat out Tuesday with a sore ankle. South’s other big scoring threat, Tanya Earl, played about 10 minutes before retiring to the bench to nurse a pulled quad.
Ducko was able to rest those two forwards because several other girls have shown an instinct for scoring. Sophomore Leia Rispoli netted her first varsity hat trick against the Lady Eagles. Classmate Alyssa Bollaci added two, and senior defender Jen Gaze posted the sixth.
"I wanted to rest Kiana and Tanya, and it’s nice that the other girls just stepped right up," Ducko said. "They filled those positions very well, and scored a lot of goals."
The Vikings are looking forward to Friday’s game at North Brunswick. Although North and South are no longer in the same division, the rivalry between these two neighbors always makes for a very intense game. The key to beating the Raiders will be to corral left wing Tricia Veloso, currently the second most prolific scorer in the conference. Veloso, who runs track in the spring, has the speed to leave most defenders flat footed. She took care of all the scoring in North’s 3-1 victory over Monroe this past Tuesday.
Once that is over, the Vikings will be starting the second half of their Red Division schedule with a game under the lights at East Brunswick at 7 p.m. Monday.
THROW-INS: Viking keeper Rebecca Dezan was key in Monday’s tie with Piscataway, making 19 saves. She had an easier time against Edison, needing just five saves to preserve the win.
