The Old Bridge High School girls soccer team heads into the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Tournament this Saturday on the heels of a solid 9-3-1 regular season.
Coach Rob Lozzi’s girls, who have also qualified for the NJSIAA Central Group IV tourney, will open the GMC tourney at home against the winner of a preliminary game between J.P. Stevens and New Brunswick. The Lady Knights missed the state tourney last year, the only time in Lozzi’s 19 years on the sideline — including his time at Cardinal Mc- Carrick — that his team has not qualified.
“We’ve had our share of injuries this year and we really haven’t been at 100 percent yet,” Lozzi said. “We should be healthy for the tournament, but in the meantime, a lot of girls have stepped up for us.”
Defense has been a key factor in the Lady Knights’ success. Old Bridge has allowed just nine goals against in its 13 matches, and senior goalkeeper Megan Dunn has been stellar, recording five shutouts thus far.
The return of fullback Katie Amato, who missed last season with an injury, has been a huge plus. Amato, a co-captain, has helped a young defense that regularly includes sophomores Courtney Durstewitz, Stephanie Walz and Hannah Hallos, who plays sweeper. Versatile Natalie Norcutt also sees time on defense.
All three Old Bridge losses could have gone either way: the Lady Knights lost a pair of 1-0 decisions to East Brunswick (12-2-1) and a 2-1 loss against Piscataway (9-3-2). Old Bridge and Piscataway played to a 1-1 tie the second time around, with Ashley Cafarella netting the Lady Knights’ goal.
Lozzi’s team enters the GMC tourney following a 5-0 success on Monday against North Brunswick. Of particular importance was the return of junior forward Nicole Brennan, who missed most of the campaign with an injury. Brennan, who scored 15 times a year ago, returned in style, scoring four goals to lead the victory. Norcutt added the Lady Knights’ other goal.
Other key wins included a 1-0 triumph over South Brunswick (8-4-1) on freshman midfielder Alexis Suarez’s goal. In the rematch, Suarez and Christy Falzone both scored and Dunn turned away eight shots in a 2-1 win.
Offensively, Old Bridge has scored 24 times, with Brennan leading the way with seven despite missing a substantial portion of the campaign. Falzone has four goals and Cafarella and Suarez have each scored three times. Midfielder Christina Shannon leads the team with five assists.
“We have a lot of girls who can score goals, which makes us a dangerous team to play,” Lozzi said. “Thirteen different girls have contributed goals or assists, and now that we have Brennan back, we’ll be that much harder to play. I think our best soccer is ahead of us.”
That’s probably not good news for the rest of the GMC, and the coach thinks the tourney is wide open.
“This has been a very competitive season in the GMC,” said Lozzi, whose team is seeded third. “There are several teams that can win. We want to be the team that does.”