The Manalapan High School girls soccer team has had a long tradition of success.
In recent years, the Braves remained highly competitive but had no championships to show for it. Last fall, the team reached its nadir going through a rare sub- .500 season that did not sit well with the Braves who returned as seniors for the 2015 season. They were determined to make sure that didn’t happen again.
The Braves outlasted Freehold Township High School to capture the Shore Conference A North Division championship. They followed that up with trips to the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals and the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group IV semifinals, finishing with a 14-3-1 overall record.
“We accomplished a lot,” said Arianna Ferraro, one of the players most responsible for the big turnaround.
Ferraro was one of the returning seniors who wanted to make sure that 2015 would be a memorable one.
“We were going to do everything we could to have a better season,” she said. “We didn’t like the feeling we had at the end of last year.”
There were a couple of things that stood out this year to the standout forward that made the difference.
“What sticks out about this season is how much we love each other, worked for each other and sacrificed for each other,” she said.
“In my four years we didn’t have the chemistry to make it happen like this year.”
Manalapan was able to win the division title primarily because there were no letdowns. When the Braves had a lead, they wouldn’t let the other teams back into the game. They played all 80 minutes.
“We were definitely more focused during games,” Ferraro said.
Ferraro certainly played her part in Manalapan’s title run by becoming one of the conference’s most dynamic players, scoring 21 goals and assisting on 15 others. She brought the Braves just what they needed: a goal scorer and playmaker, all in one.
The Braves needed to increase their scoring this year, and head coach Rick Garretson was looking to Ferraro to be the goto player. Ferraro plays outside back and outside midfield for her club teams, but Garretson believed that she was the answer to the team’s scoring woes.
“Arianna plays forward for us because of her superior foot skills, great vision and her ability to take on defenders, beat them and finish with either foot,” he said.
Moving Ferraro forward produced the results that Garretson was looking for.
Ferraro has a powerful shot with either foot and is a threat anytime she gets inside the 18. She worked constantly on her outside shooting to make it more accurate and dangerous.
The Braves also used Ferarro’s accurate shooting on corner kicks, making it a very effective weapon.
“We work on [corner kicks] every practice,” Ferraro said. “We work on different situations.”
Ferraro was quick to credit teammates like Mya Donnelly, Olivia Connors and Arielle Kaplan for her prolific scoring. She remarked about how well they worked together anticipating each other’s moves.
“It was the players surrounding me,” she said.
Ferraro may have scored her final goal for Manalapan, but there will be more in her future in college. Ferraro verbally committed to the University of Louisville as a sophomore and will head there next fall.
When recruiting started, Ferraro admitted she didn’t see herself going to Louisville. But after a visit there, she was sold on it.
“I loved the program and the coaches,” she said.
The Cardinals play in the highly competitive Atlantic Coast Conference, which was of interest to the Braves’ standout player.
Garretson has no doubt that Ferraro has what it takes to play at the next level.
“She has developed into an incredible player and ranks up there with some of the high-level great players that I have had the pleasure to coach at Manalapan,” he said.
Those players include Elyse Bizzozzaro (Hofstra University), Jen Margolis (Bucknell University), Amy Carhart (University of Central Florida) and Cassie Inacio (senior captain at Rutgers University). Being mentioned in the company of those Braves is very high praise indeed.