Trio of scorers gives Blue Devils 20th sectional title
Shore girls win triple crown, have shot at
quartet of titles
CHRIS KELLY Shore Regional’s Casey Whalen jumps into the arms of teammate Ali Shames-Dawson after scoring a goal against St. Rose in the Nov. 8 CJ Group I final in West Long Branch.
There may be different girls wearing the uniforms, but the results are the same.
Behind a 3-1 victory over St. Rose High School, the Shore Regional Field Hockey team won the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I state championship last week, marking the 20th such title won by the Blue Devils’ program.
"I’m very proud of these kids," said Shore Regional head coach Nancy Williams. "We only have a few kids back from last year, and have had some key injuries that the kids have battled through.
"Even though we did make some mistakes in the game, the kids played a good game," she added. "I think they were a little overwhelmed. Yeah it’s Shore, and we’ve been here before, but not with this group of kids."
With a 13-7 shot advantage, and a solid defense that only gave up one goal throughout the tournament, the Blue Devils continued on their path to the overall Group finals against Gateway, the South Jersey Group I section winner, Nov. 6.
The 20th title acquisition began at the 5:27 mark, when Amanda Arnold rifled a shot inside the right post during a penalty corner.
On the previous corner, St. Rose goalie Jackie DeRicco easily stopped a hard shot by Meredith Corradino. But during this corner, Corradino took a fake swing at the doubled-passed ball from Kate Rubert and Lauren Hennessey, confusing DeRicco prior to the Arnold goal.
"We had a lot of confidence since we’ve already beaten St. Rose twice, but we knew doing it three times in one season would be tough," said junior midfielder Amanda Arnold. "We came out focused and scored the goals we needed. There was a couple of times we broke down a little, but overall we played a good game."
Despite the staunch defensive efforts by the Purple Roses, Shore Regional struck for the winning goal with little more than three minutes left in the half.
On a breakaway pass from near midfield, senior Casey Whalen raced her way to the center of the circle, before rocketing a cross-bodied forehanded shot inside the right post.
"I can’t say enough about the seniors today," said Williams "They came through and stepped up when they had to. What the score book never says is how the kids work, and the little things they do in a game that win it for us.
"These kids are one of the most enjoyable group of kids I’ve worked with in the last four or five years. They don’t care who does the score, they just want to play."
That selflessness led to Shore’s insurance goal in the second half, when Rubert jabbed in a short goal on a long pass from Whalen.
St. Rose finally found its way into the scoring column, as Jill DeBari converted a pass from Sam Hamill at 42:33.
Shore’s defense not only limited the Roses to a total of seven shots, but goalie Robyn Apicelli only to make four saves to preserve the win.
DeRicco prevented seven potential goals.
The win gave Shore a 21-1 record heading into Tuesday’s matchup with Gateway at Red Bank Regional High School. With a win on Tuesday, the Blue Devils would secure a spot in the next round, where they would face the winner of the Moorestown-Camden Catholic matchup. That game will be played on Sunday at The College of New Jersey, Ewing.