Lady Mustangs struggle after two victories

Team enters week at 2-5

By: John E. Powers
   
   After posting blowout wins against North Plainfield and Bound Brook on the soccer field, the Manville girls ran into some Skyland Conference royalty.
   The Lady Mustangs were blanked by unbeaten Somerville 9-0 and Bernards 8-0 to fall to 2-5.
   "I think that we had gotten into such a high after the wins that we didn’t really react well enough," Manville head coach Erin Delaney said Monday during practice.
   The MHS girls, who routed North Plainfield 7-0 a week ago Monday, didn’t seem affected last Tuesday with a 5-0 thumping of Bound Brook.
   Senior Marzena Brozyna, who scored four goals in the North Plainfield game, had two against Bound Brook. Freshman Amy Evanylo, sophomore Angelika Lazur and junior Sam Aichele netted the other goals. Aichele converted a header off a cross.
   "The girls were really pumped; it’s a huge rivalry," Delaney said. "They got mentally prepared. They were passing the ball well. They looked like a team. They were going to the ball, winning 50-50s and communicating on the field. It was the same thing against North Plainfield."
   The next two games were against unbeaten Skyland teams – Somerville and Bernards, both 6-0. The Lady Mustangs played at Somerville Thursday and hosted Bernards Saturday morning at Panfile Stadium.
   "Somerville was a really good team, but I felt like we weren’t mentally ready and we were a little intimidated," Delaney said. "I don’t think the score should have been as bad as it was – Marta (goalie Marta Fabiyan) had a lot of great saves. Somerville was really dribbling and we weren’t marking up. They were just dribbling through our offense and defense. They were keeping away from us in the second half. It was like a drill we do during practice, but our kids didn’t pick it up."
   Since Bernards and Somerville carry unbeaten records, couldn’t the lopsided results have been attributed to the fact that the Mountaineers and Pioneers were simply better?
   "I just don’t think we were mentally into it," Delaney said. "We regressed to bad habits. We were kicking and running and we were sloppy. We were quiet on the field and not talking, especially against Bernards. Our feet were like bricks and we couldn’t trap or get possession of the ball."
   The Manville girls were expected to have a busy week with games at Hackettstown Tuesday and Mount St. Mary Friday and one with North Warren at home Thursday. All three teams have winning records. The Lady Mustangs also are likely to have a Somerset County Tournament game Saturday. The seeding meeting was scheduled for Wednesday night.