By: Ron Parent
Head coach Kathy Dillon and the Monroe Township High School girls soccer team couldn’t have asked for much of a better start to the 2006 season.
Not only did the Falcons’ first two games result in a pair of wins, but:
Sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Hoskins made 21 total saves in pitching consecutive shutouts to kick off her varsity career.
The team’s combined total of four goals and two assists came from six different players.
The back-to-back victories came against a pair of divisional rivals and rocketed the team into first place in the Greater Middlesex Conference White Division just five days into the school year.
"It was a very nice start to the season," said Dillon, now in her fifth season with the Falcons. "We still have to mature a little bit, we’re just waiting to have everything click together, but these guys have really stepped it up they really have ability."
Dillon’s comments betray the fact that, however successful early on, Monroe is certainly not the same team that finished 11-6-1 in 2005. Six seniors, including a number of four-year starters, graduated from that squad, and Dillon was left with a young team with several holes to be filled. Still, she’s quickly finding that many of the replacements have plenty to offer.
Take Hoskins, for example, who stepped in for the graduated Megan Boyce. Dillon said she kept Hoskins on the junior varsity team last season to allow her to accumulate some experience even though she knew the young keeper likely would have been a capable varsity starter as a freshman.
"(Hoskins) is outstanding she really does a good job back there," Dillon said of her new starting netminder. "She’s very fast, alert, and an excellent athlete. She’s got good hands, she anticipates well, and she’s not afraid to get dirty. She came out from (the game against Sayreville) with burns all over her body."
Hoskins made 12 saves on opening day against the Bombers, whom Monroe couldn’t beat in two tries last season. Another two underclassmen teamed up to produce the game-winning score that day, with junior Allison Arnold heading in a perfect pass from junior Alyssa Theinert midway through the first half as the Falcons won 1-0.
Three days later, another junior (Alanna Carr) and a sophomore (Diana Stelmaszczyk) each scored a goal in the Falcons’ 3-0 win over South Plainfield, as Hoskins made nine saves.
Dillon said that of all her younger players’ responsibilities, Carr’s role as center midfielder might be the most crucial. The junior finished with 10 goals as a sophomore last season, second only to the since-graduated Raven Chiara, and now has the keys to the offense.
"Sometimes it takes a while to mature into that center mid position it’s the toughest on the field, because you have to distribute and you’re heavily marked," Dillon said. "I’ve known since she was a freshman that she had that ability; she’s going to be a very key player."
The Falcons will need Hoskins and Carr to be at their best over the next week, when they face defending GMC White Division co-champions Colonia Saturday at 10 a.m.
