The Freehold High School girls soccer team was trying to overcome an 0-4 start in 2022 when the Colonials hosted Monmouth Regional High School of Tinton Falls on Sept. 16 in Freehold Borough.
Coach Elyse Ingui watched as senior Samantha Matisoff provided the boost the Colonials needed when Matisoff scored the game-winning goal in the second overtime period to lift Freehold to a 2-1 win over the Falcons.
The “golden goal” that ended the game immediately came after senior Neomie Franco sent a free kick into the box. Matisoff found the loose ball and put home the winner 70 seconds into the second 10-minute overtime.
FINAL: Freehold Boro wins its first game of the season with a 2-1 OT victory over Monmouth Regional. Samantha Matisoff with the GW Goal 70 seconds into the 2nd OT. CC: @FBHSathletics @central_jersey #NJSoccer ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/nxoNP1xlPu
— Steven Bassin (@SBassin_Sports) September 16, 2022
“It feels great,” Matisoff said. “This game had to end and we had to end it the way we wanted, so I just put everything I had into that goal.”
In regulation, junior Taylor Atkinson scored her second goal of the season as the Colonials took a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.
The Colonials’ lead held up until Jalissa Jay equalized for the Falcons in the 67th minute.
The final 13 minutes of the match were scoreless.
Monmouth Regional ties it up in the 67th minute. Jalissa Jay knocks in the rebound for the Falcons. 1-1 game! CC: @central_jersey @MonRegHS #NJSoccer ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/AVzLhHKzOF
— Steven Bassin (@SBassin_Sports) September 16, 2022
The Colonials and the Falcons would have played a maximum of two 10-minute overtime periods.
Before the first overtime began, Ingui gave her players a pep talk.
“I told them overtime is all about your heart,” the coach said. “It’s not about who the better team is. It’s about who is going to leave everything out there and leave their heart out on the field.”
Neither team scored during the first 10-minute overtime.
As the second 10-minute overtime began, the Colonials pressed the attack. The Falcons committed a foul about 28 yards from their goal and the Colonials set up for a free kick.
Franco’s kick found the box and goalkeeper Amanda Growney came out of the net to try and catch the ball. The ball bounced off Growney and then off Freehold’s Payton Quinn.
As the ball started rolling toward the corner of the net, Matisoff tracked it down and knocked it home for her first goal of the season. The winning score came in the 92nd minute of the match.
Matisoff said that as her teammates mobbed her, she could hear them saying, “You deserve this.”
“The whole team deserves this (victory). We played great. This is just the beginning,” she said.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kendall Livingston recorded seven saves in the victory.
Freehold (1-4) will host Middletown North High School on Sept. 20.