Falcons fall in overtime, 1-0
By: Carolyn M. Hartko
OAKHURST If the Ocean Township High School girls’ soccer team thought it could roll over the interloper from Middlesex County in Thursday’s NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III tournament game, it were quickly disappointed.
Oh, the 2nd seeded Lady Spartans came away with a 1-0 victory, but not before 7th-seeded Monroe High gave the Spartans (16-2-1) all they could handle.
It wasn’t until the first 10-minute overtime period was almost over that Ocean’s Erika Mazza broke a scoreless stalemate to send her team on the semifinals. Although outshot 13-8 in the contest, the scrappy Monroe squad denied every Spartan offensive attempt until that golden goal with 1:38 left in the sudden death overtime.
Defense was key to the Falcon game plan on Thursday. And everyone on the team chipped in when needed, although the burden fell mostly on the usual defenders: goal keeper Megan Boyce, sweeper Nicole Ragucci, and backs Allison Gran, Angela Montanile, Monica Polick and Sasha Potter.
"We played back further than usual, which hurt our offensive game," Gran, a senior, explained. "But it worked out. It kept us in the game as long as possible."
Knowing that this could be the last game of the 2005 season, the Falcons put everything they had into the match. The Shore Conference has a reputation for producing better teams than the Greater Middlesex Conference in girls’ soccer, but Monroe was not intimidated.
"Honestly, that’s the best team we’ve played all season, but the girls were really up for the game," Falcon head coach Kathy Dillon said. "Before the game, we talked to the seniors about their legacy. They’ve left the one state win (against Red Bank on Monday) for us to build on for next year."
Both sides had their chances to end the game during regulation. Early in the game, Ocean missed on a free kick taken just outside the box on the right side, and a break-away failed when the shot skied over the net. A minute before the goal that ended the game, another break-away was thwarted when Boyce (10 saves) leaped for a high center shot.
During the second half, Raven Chiara banged a direct free kick off Ocean’s wall, and the Falcons got a second chance off the rebound. Spartan keeper Sarah Fylak (six saves) tapped the ball over the end line, giving Monroe a corner, but preventing the goal. Twelve minutes later, Chiara hit a nice in swinging corner that should have gone straight in, but Fylak punched out the high ball.
"This was a big, strong team very talented," Dillon said. "We were a little undersized against them. But then, we’re undersized even in our own division."
The Spartans may have been taller than the Falcons, but the birds had the bigger hearts.
"We came in with our heads up because we were not favored to win this game," Gran said. "We knew we were the underdogs, but we wanted to keep the momentum going from Monday’s game. We just tried to keep that attitude up for the whole game. If you have to go out, this is the way to go out."
The Falcons closed out their season at 11-6-1.

