Girls soccer squads to meet Saturday night
Memorial enters week undefeated
BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI Staff Writer
Brick Memorial girls soccer team renews its rivalry with Brick Township at 7 p.m. Saturday night at Brick Township as it enters this week with a 3-0-1 record.

Brick Township

"If you told us we'd start the season at 3-0-1, I'd say I don't think so," said coach Bill Caruso. "I'm pleased. We've played well."

And the Mustangs showed that even when they don't play as well, they can dodge disaster against formidable teams in Shore Conference A South, including a 1-1 tie against conference favorite Jackson on Saturday morning.

"I'm not happy, but not upset," said Caruso of the result. "We didn't bring our A game and still did not lose. But they worked hard, which is all you can ask. Jackson played well. It's becoming a great rivalry. We were battling, fighting, scrapping. It was a fun game, a classic battle of rivals."

A year ago, Jackson won three of four meetings against Brick Memorial, including the Shore Conference Tournament championship and the NJSIAA Group IV, Section 1 semifinals, each by one goal. This time Caitlin Conway drilled a penalty kick that beat the Jackson goalie into the upper left side of the net to tie it while Brick Memorial goalie Amanda Simon played steady in the net.

And Brick Memorial knows it needs to be wary against Brick Township, another rival who surprised Jackson earlier last week, 1-0. Kim Price scored 4:24 into the game to break a two-game scoreless start for Brick Township. Rachel Marino started the play in the middle of the field and the ball was deflected outside to Chelsea Barreto, who crossed it over to Price for a shot from 10 yards out that reached the upper left corner. Goalie Lauren McElroy secured the shutout with two tough stops on a header late in the first half and a one-on-one situation on the left side in the second half in which she got a hand on the shot and deflected the ball away. She received support from the entire defense of starters Jenna Wroblewski, Jenny Person and Maggie Murtagh and reserves Jade Hrubash, Chelsea Florczak, Gianna Pizzella and Carol Ann Carlson on a formation that was changed for the game from a 4-4-2 to the 3-4-3 it ran last year.

"As a team, we felt we played as well as we could," said coach Mike Berardinelli, whose team was outshot 11-8. "Our positive attitude came through and we kept it throughout the game. We hustled and won more than 60 percent of the 50-50 balls."

Brick Township followed that game with a 2-1 loss to Toms River South on Saturday as the team is off to a 1-3 start. Kelly Garrido drilled home the tying goal unassisted 15 minutes into the second half when she took a mishit ball, beat a defender and connected on a low liner from

15 yards out. Person and sophomore center midfielder Jordan Farley earned Berardinelli's praises. Both coaches say that the main thing is that their teams need to play consistently when they collide on Saturday night. "We have to just stay within our roles," said Caruso, whose team also has been adjusting to a different 3-5-2 formation for this season. "We've come out prepared

but need to get off to as quick a start in the second half as the first half."

 

Caruso, whose team also played Toms River East and Lacey earlier this week, said that "Everyone is starting to get it. The forwards are getting there. They're the last ones to come around, but that often happens [with changing formations]."

Berardinelli said his team on Saturday night "must just continue to have consistency. Our effort is positive, even when we've lost. We're beginning to play more consistently with the new formation. Offensively, we're getting used to it."

Brick Memorial, meanwhile, had outscored its opponents 11-4 coming into this week, but it hasn't been easy lately: Briana Fischer late last week scored the

winning goal in the 100th minute of the second overtime for a 2-1 victory over Lacey. Alex Montalvo started the play off her corner kick. The Mustangs got good news last week when goalie Megan Heerwagen was medically cleared after suffering a broken collarbone while playing club soccer last spring. Heerwagen saw action last season when Brick Memorial was 18-4 and won the

Shore Conference A South and Heerwagen played well in two games — both victories— replacing Simon when she suffered a broken finger.

 

"Amanda has been doing such a good job," said Caruso. "She controls our defense. Her biggest thing is she allows our zone to keep its shape because she is very active on the line knocking away threats."

Brick Memorial this week has a big game on Tuesday against Toms River North and another at Southern on Thursday before playing the Green Dragons on Saturday.

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