BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
JEFFGRANIT staff Freehold Borough’s Arielle Galimidi battles Toms River North’s Kim Mancini during Friday’s game in Freehold. If any team has proved that the state playoffs are a second season, it’s the Freehold Borough girls soccer team.
For the last three years, Heshy Moses’ club has reached the Central Jersey Group II championship, winning the title in 2001. The Colonials were never a top seed during any of those runs. What they relied on was the benefits of playing a difficult regular season that made them battle tested for the one-and-down scenario of the playoffs.
“We’re basically where we were last year,” said Moses. “We’re looking forward to the states.”
The Colonials (14-5 overall), were seeded fourth in CJ III and will play fifth-seeded Ocean tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. in Freehold. Both teams received first-round byes.
No matter what happens in this year’s playoffs, the Colonials are primed to continue challenging for championships. They return nine of their 11 starters.
Players come and go, but one thing has remained a constant at Freehold Borough — defense.
Once again, the Colonials have been one of the most difficult teams in the Shore to score on.
Their defense keeps them in games, which is why they have always been a tough out in the postseason.
“We convince everybody to play defense,” said Moses. “We have good athletes who are not selfish.”
How many teams can lose an all-state goalie who owns all the school records for wins and shutouts (Jen Towers) and not miss a beat. Meg Lasky, a junior who sat behind Towers the last two years has nine shutouts, second best in the Shore.
“Meg is playing great,” said Moses. “I’m happy for her.”
A couple of position changes during the season have made the Colonials even stronger on defense led by the move of Christina Arcoleo to sweeper back.
Kim Agbulos has remained throughout the season one of the best marking backs in the Shore. Meg Wilgucki has played her way into the starting lineup and Amy Flanagan (one of the impact freshmen on the team) has done a fine job as an outside fullback.
“We’ve been playing really well on defense,” Moses remarked.
While the Colonials have been as good as ever on defense, they have surprisingly been scoring more goals than recent years. You won’t find any of the Colonials among the leading scorers in the Shore, because it has been a collective effort. Alyssa Mayrose, Jess Carlson, Brianna Rozzi, Jess Carlson, Kim Bierfiend and Kelly Ackerman are among the several players who have been providing the scoring for the Colonials. The offense could be bolstered this week if injured starter Colleen Racket returns.
Outside of not being able to really give Wall Township a fight for the B North Division championship, Moses is happy with the regular season.
“Overall we did a pretty good job,” said Moses. “We got into both tournaments, which is what I wanted.”
The Colonials made the Shore Conference Tournament (SCT) where they were seeded eighth. They beat Ocean (whom they will play again in the state tournament) in the first round and fell to unbeaten, defending champion Lacey in the quarterfinals Oct. 25.
Freehold’s play in the SCT bodes well for the state sectional and a fourth straight trip to the sectional finals is not out of the question.
“To get there four years in a row would be something,” said Moses.
Also making it to the Central Jersey playoffs this fall were Manalapan, Howell and Colts Neck.
Colts Neck is the CJ III defending champion, having beaten Freehold Borough for the title last November. The Cougars are the ninth seed this year and started play Monday at North Burlington. The winner plays No. 1-seeded Wall tomorrow.
Manalapan and Howell are both looking for late season surges to carry over to the playoffs.
Howell (9-7-1) only has to draw upon last year to know that you throw the record book out in the playoffs. The Rebels made the state sectional final for the first time in school history in ’03 and peaking in the second half of the season. The Rebels did the same thing this year and are the 12th seed in CJ IV. Howell played at fifth-seeded Sayreville Monday in the first round with the winner playing Hamilton East (No. 4 seed)-Brick Township (No. 13) winner tomorrow.
Manalapan (8-7-1), which along with Freehold Borough and Colts Neck has won a Central Jersey championship, needed to win a pair of games in the SCT to qualify for the states.
Coach Rick Garretson, whose team enjoyed great regular season the last couple of years only to suffer early disappointment in the state playoffs, is looking for the reverse this year.
Manalapan is seeded 10th and opened play at seventh-seeded North Brunswick on Monday. The winner gets No. 2 seed and defending champion Brick Memorial tomorrow afternoon.