By: Carolyn M. Hartko
The Monroe High School varsity girls’ soccer team finds itself in an unusual position this fall. In the normal course of events, the Lady Falcons would have already qualified for the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III tournament.
Teams gain a berth in the tourney by having a .500 or better record by Oct. 22. At 6-6-1 with three games left on the regular schedule, the Falcons are cutting it close. This is the first time in her three-year tenure that Falcon head coach Kathy Dillon has had to think about the mathematical permutations regarding the number victories needed between now and the deadline. In fact, the coach was not even sure when the deadline was.
"I’ve never had to worry about (the cutoff) before," Dillon said. "Now, we’re kind of walking the line."
Losing two of their last three games has not helped. Both losses were to teams that are in the running for White Division champion, and the scores were identical: a heartbreaking 1-0.
The most recent game was at home against North Brunswick (10-2-2) on Wednesday. The two sides played 71 minutes of scoreless soccer before the Lady Raiders broke the impasse. Striker Katie Cosgrove took a shot from what seemed to be an impossible angle deep on the left side. It looked like the ball might sail harmlessly past the goal, but it curved just enough to catch the far side of the net.
A win for the Falcons might not have increased their chances at repeating as division champs, but Dillon thought her squad could play the spoiler.
"We knew that North Brunswick beat Woodbridge 1-0, and we kind of wanted to mix it up a little bit in the division," Dillon said. "We think that we belong with all those teams. It’s been close in every match we’ve had."
The Falcons also dropped last Friday’s game at Sayreville. The Lady Bombers scored in the first half, and Monroe couldn’t crack their defense in the time remaining.
"If we’ve had any luck this year, it’s been bad luck," Dillon said. "They scored with a header. It wasn’t spectacular."
The one bright spot this week was Monday’s 3-1 victory over visiting New Brunswick. Junior forward Sasha Potter led the Falcon offense, netting two first half goals. Alyssa Gioino made it 3-0 before the break. The Lady Zebras spoiled the shutout with a goal by Shaquanna Oloyede in the second period. Falcon keeper Megan Boyce had a slow day, only needing four saves to seal the win. Her New Brunswick counterpart, Marisol Torres, registered 12 saves.
"We played well," Dillon said of Monday’s game. "The second half was kind of jumbled. I mixed it up a little bit, so we could get some people in. I wanted to give some different people playing time."
The Falcons are under pressure to get two wins out of their last three games. They host South Plainfield today (Friday), and they will be at Colonia on Monday. Spotswood visits next Wednesday for a non-division match.
THROW-INS: Boyce had six saves against Sayreville, and 10 in Wednesday’s game with North Brunswick.
