A s Middletown High School South’s girls soccer team intends to return to the Shore Conference Tournament that it missed last season when it finished 9- 8, there is some juggling of returning players to new positions.
“We have a really good work ethic and actually have good size, which we usually do not have. This is a good, close team,” coach Tara Ernst said as her team prepares for its Sept. 5 opener at Manasquan High School.
Last season ended with an NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III tournament loss in the opening round to Ocean Township High School. Senior captains Alex Raguseo and Tori Despirito at outside midfield and Madison Curtis at forward make up the nucleus of a team that took what Ernst considered a “big loss” when Stephanie Karcz passed up returning to the soccer field to concentrate on basketball, where Middletown South won the state sectional title last season.
Curtis, who missed the second half of last season with a concussion when she played fullback, is part of the response to the spotty scoring last season that resulted in some close losses.
“So far, she’s doing pretty good there. We hope to get some goals out of her,” Ernst said. “We have to score goals. We don’t really let up a lot of goals and have to find a way to score some.”
Center midfielder Deanna Rotella is off to a college career at Montclair State University, and center back Morgan Duve is headed to West Chester University. They are among the five graduated players from last season’s team.
Credit the stinginess on defense to goalie Taelor Rivera, who started as a sophomore last season; a strong midfield bolstered by Raguseo and Despirito on the outside; and senior Grace DeSanctis and Nicole Scalzo and junior Amanda Glynn in the middle, which Ernst hopes can set the tempo in the 3-5-2 configuration. DeSanctis uses her good footwork as a strong defensive midfielder, while Scalzo comes to the midfield from the back line, also to help muster more offense.
“We want to be more aggressive on the offensive end,” Ernst said.
Junior Carly Hymanson and sophomore Molly Ryan, both new to the varsity team, give depth to the midfield.
The back line will rely largely on senior Macaila Smith, who saw spot action last season; junior Ashley Cozzi, who came up late in the season; and freshman Rachel Hutson in the middle. Junior Taylor Cameron was expected to be a big returnee on defense, where she was a backup last season. However, she is out until mid-September recovering from an illness.
Joining Curtis up front are senior Taylor Dreuer, who started some games last season, and sophomore Haley Dalonzo, who played a bit at forward and in the midfield.
Two seniors will also look to contribute — midfielder/fullback Emily Winter and newcomer Michaela Atland at fullback.
Jody Smith, a former assistant coach at Freehold High School, joins the Middletown South staff as varsity assistant. Bob Lightbody again coaches the junior varsity team, and Lauren Conaty coaches the freshman team.