By Jimmy Allinder
South River
Considering where the South River High School girls’ soccer program once was as recently as four seasons ago, the 3-2 record at this stage of the season is more than satisfactory.
It all has to do with the stability provided by six players who are now seniors: forward Gabrielle Sampaio, midfielders Victoria Gil and Michelle Reyes, and defenders Arly Ramirez-Gonzalez, Nayara Figueroa and Alexis Steffaro.
“The year before they entered the program, we didn’t win a game (0-17-1) and we hadn’t enjoyed a lot of success before that,” head coach Donnie Minto said. “They’ve helped reinvigorate South River girls’ soccer and have brought more joy to my coaching career than at any other time.”
The Rams, members of the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Gold Division, finished 12-6-1 a year ago but suffered a key graduation loss in three-year starting goalkeeper Breona Hill. She has been replaced by junior Josephine Fusco, who has moved to the net after playing fullback her previous seasons on the varsity team. Sampaio returns with 27 career goals and 10 assists and will be looked on as a key offensive threat along with Gil, who has deposited 28 goals and 19 assists.
Junior forward Sophia DiGiovanni is also a threat to score and has 14 goals and four assists. Minto hopes the defense will be stable with Steffaro, Ramirez-Gonzalez and Figureroa returning to the defense.
“My philosophy is to try and put the best possible combination of girls on the field so we’re competitive every game,” Minto said. “I want the girls to constantly give their all and wear their school jerseys with pride from the first whistle to the last.”
Monroe
It’s been a rough start for Pete Ruckdeschel, who takes over as first year coach for the Monroe Township High School girls’ soccer program. The Falcons, after finishing 12-4-3 last season, are 0-4 in the highly competitive GMC Red Division.
“Monroe soccer has a tradition of winning, and we expect to keep that going,” Ruckdeschel said. “We’ve started slow, but I’m confident that our team will prevail.”
One of the reasons for Ruckdeschel’s optimism is the infusion of a quality group of freshmen who only need time to adjust to the speed of varsity soccer. Not surprising, Monroe has had difficulty mounting an offense and has registered three goals in its four losses. They have come from Paige Gandy, Olivia Haas and Gennyka Liebenthal. Sabrina Fiord also has an assist, and Stephanie Stojanovski has two assists. The goalkeeping has been split between Jennifer Horn and Kaitlyn Zirrith, who have 21 saves each.
Ruckdeschel has previous coaching experience in Massachusetts and has been involved in the township recreation program in recent years.
“I have studied soccer and plan to bring more focus to controlling the pace of the game through the midfield and building an attack centered around multiple players instead of relying on one or two,” he said.
Ruckdeschel said among the talented freshman group, Giana Porpora shows promise to make an immediate impact. However, he is also relying on his seniors to provide leadership.
“We have talent and leadership ability,” he said. “We don’t have the numbers like in previous seasons, but I’m excited about this year and looking forward to improving our record.”