Smith leads way with goal, three assists
By: Rudy Brandl
GLADSTONE Making history is always something special.
The Manville High girls’ soccer team enjoyed that wonderful feeling last Saturday afternoon at Gill St. Bernards.
Manville, the 13th seed in the bracket, rode an early scoring spurt and played a solid all-around game to produce a 4-1 triumph over No. 12 Gill in the preliminary round of the Somerset County Tournament. The victory, the school’s first county tournament victory in soccer, sent the MHS girls into this Saturday’s second round against fifth-ranked Pingry.
"I think it’s great," said senior forward Alison Smith, who was involved in all the scoring with a goal and three assists. "It’s my senior year and we made it to the second round. We’ve had an opportunity to make it before but we finally did it."
"The first county win is a big deal here," third-year MHS head coach Nestor Cortina added. "Now, we have a big game next Saturday."
Saturday’s victory also improved Manville’s chances of qualifying for the Central Jersey Group 1 state playoffs for the third consecutive year. Things weren’t looking so great after a 2-5 start, but the Lady Mustangs posted three impressive road victories last week to stay in contention.
"My goal is the states," said Cortina, who hopes to win the school’s first state game later this fall. "This was a very key game. We’re building confidence and we have a lot of momentum now."
The Lady Mustangs didn’t waste any time using the gusty wind to their advantage. Manville scored three goals in the first nine minutes of the game and never looked back.
Sophomore Lauren Kohler netted her fifth goal of the season just 2:07 into the game off a feed from Smith, who started the play with a fancy flick pass into the penalty box. Kohler took the pass, eluded a defender and ripped a shot under diving goalkeeper Jill Wawrzyniak for a 1-0 lead.
Exactly one minute later, Smith made it 2-0 with her fifth goal of the year. Jen Jeremiah set up the goal with a pass from the left side. Smith pounced on the deflection off the goalkeeper and fired the ball into the open net after a brief struggle.
"She shot it and the goalie went for it but it popped out," Smith said. "I didn’t get it the first time so I went for it again."
Manville continued to dominate the game and scored a wind-aided goal in the ninth minute. Sophomore midfielder Amy Cutler sent a long shot from 25 yards away toward the goal. The ball took off and landed in the upper corner for Cutler’s third goal of the season.
"I was going to see if I could make it," Cutler said. "Usually, it doesn’t make it that far but the wind took it."
The game continued to be wide-open early and Gill scored in the 11th minute when Maggie Emmitt slammed home the rebound of a free kick.
Cortina urged his girls to continue pressing forward, knowing that Gill would enjoy the wind advantage in the second half. Manville continued to attack but didn’t add to its score until the second half.
"When you score early, it’s easier to relax a little," Cutler said. "There’s not as much pressure."
"We were pumped up for the game," Smith added. "We chose the side with the wind to start the game. The wind definitely helped us, but we still did well without the wind."
The Lady Mustangs wound up scoring the only goal of the second half despite playing against the wind. Reserve forward Dana Calvo got loose on the right wing and finished a textbook play for an insurance goal with just under 15 minutes to play.
Deena Giles started the counterattack from the left side and completed a give-and-go with Smith, who found Calvo running down the right side. Calvo dribbled and calmly ripped a hard shot off the keeper’s hands for a 4-1 cushion.
"We have a lot more confidence in the way we’re playing together," Smith said. "Everybody’s taking shots now. It’s not just one player."
Saturday’s victory was produced by more than just goal-scorers. The Lady Mustangs were missing a few starters and played with a few people out of position. Maggie Barone made the biggest sacrifice, moving from her field position to take over as goalkeeper. Barone did a superb job with 12 saves.
"That was a lot of pressure for Maggie," Cutler said. "She’s not our regular goalie, but she did a really great job. She was really strong today."
Barone was helped by the spectacular play of sweeper Christine Andreyko, who provided a steady line of defense to thwart Gill’s rushes. The outside fullback rotation of Sarah Ortman, Tiffany Spinola and Ryan Malko was extremely effective.
Cortina also employed a little strategy to stop Gill’s best player. He instructed Kohler to mark Emmitt all over the field and take her out of the game. Kohler blanketed Emmitt and didn’t allow her to make any more plays to rally her team.
"You see what happens when you mark a player," Cortina said. "Lauren is faster and she was keeping up with her. (Emmitt) was lost in the second half. She didn’t do anything."
The Lady Mustangs started their winning streak with Valley Division victories over Bound Brook (3-0) and David Brearley (3-1). Kohler scored twice and Barone added a third goal within the first nine minutes of the game at Bound Brook. Stefanie Bocchino made six saves for the shutout.
Dana Delesky scored two goals and assisted on Kohler’s tally in the second half of Thursday’s game at Brearley. The MHS girls rallied from a 1-0 deficit at the half and dominated the game with a 13-4 edge in shots.
Manville continued its surge with Saturday’s landmark victory.
"It’s very important because Manville wasn’t known for getting very far," Cutler said. "This is the first time we won in the counties. We just wanted to make history for Manville."