Brookdale girls heading for national tournament
Middletown’s D’Alessio
leads Jersey Blues to
Region XIX title
For the second time in three seasons the Brookdale Community College women’s soccer team will be playing in the NJCAA national championships.
The Jersey Blues earned the trip to St. Louis for the national tournament, which begins Nov. 16, by downing Camden County College, 2-0, on Saturday to capture the Region XIX title.
In the opening minutes of the contest, both teams played cautiously, but Brookdale got the game’s first break when Gina D’Alessio took a pass from Marlboro’s Lauren Nangano and launched a seemingly harmless shot that was misplayed into a goal by the Camden netminder at the 10-minute mark.
The former Middletown High School South player scored again early in the second half as she blasted a pass from Matawan’s Sherri Cate high into the net to give the Jersey Blues an insurance marker. After the game, D’Alessio, who leads the team in scoring with 15 goals and seven assists, was named the tournament’s outstanding player.
"Both teams were nervous at the beginning of the game," said Brookdale Coach Frank Lawrence, whose team lost a regular-season meeting with Camden. "After we scored the goal, we settled down and began playing our game."
That meant controlling the middle of the field. Sweeper Dana Pagano, who was injured the first time the two clubs met, was superlative. The Middletown North grad was named the tourney’s outstanding defensive player.
Danielle Soden of Manalapan and Lori McDermott, another Middletown South product, were models of consistency in the game and all season long. Lawrence credited Soden and McDermott for keying his team’s transition game.
"That’s how we get most of our goals," the coach noted.
In addition, Lawrence rotated Heather Andrews (Raritan), Tara Lomicky (St. John Vianney), Carrie O’Gorman (Long Branch) and Dawn Tardogno (Manalapan) at the outside midfield posts. This foursome combined to keep the ball moving up the flanks and away from the Brookdale side of the field.
"We were able to rotate through and keep fresh players on the field," Lawrence said. "We played like a team and we played tremendous defense. Camden has three top-level goal-scorers and none of them were able to hurt us."
In goal, Danielle Willis played well behind the stellar defensive effort. The Brick Memorial graduate came up high to break up several plays and made 16 saves in all.
Tanya Driscoll, a former Middletown North player who moved from midfield to fullback earlier in the campaign, turned in a solid effort as well.
With 11 days between Saturday’s game and its first-round matchup in the national tourney, Lawrence said he decided to give his team two days off to enjoy the Region XIX title, then it’s back to work.
"Having been there two years ago and having had a similar layoff will help," he said. "That’s a long time between games, and we have to keep our fitness level up. And once we know who our opponent will be, we’ll begin preparing for them."
Lawrence added that he will try and book an exhibition game or two with a women’s club team to keep his players "game sharp."
"Going to the national championships is a great experience," Lawrence added. "I want the players to enjoy the surroundings and have some fun."