BTHS girls soccer earn their way to playoffs

The first high school soccer team to stash away its equipment in past seasons in Brick Township is this fall's last team left standing.

Brick Township High School's girls soccer team played in the NJSIAA Group III South Jersey section semifinals on Nov. 9 at Highland Regional High School. It is the Green Dragons' furthest postseason advance in 10 years. The winner of that game will take on either No. 1 seed Point Pleasant Borough or Moorestown, who are playing in the other bracket.

Brick Memorial High School's girls and Brick Township High School's boys were eliminated, each by one goal, in tough state tournament openers last week. Brick Memorial was denied a berth in the section semifinals for the first time in 14 years when it dropped its opener to a formidable East Brunswick squad, ranked No. 4 in the state, in a 1-0 overtime loss.

"It's a little disappointing losing in the first round, but East Brunswick is a great team and I have no problem losing to a team like that," said Brick Memorial girls coach Bill Caruso. "We had some lapses, but they're a team that's deceptive and creative."

But it was Brick Township that has found a spark in the second half of the season after a 2-7-1 start, winning seven of its last nine games to improve to 9-9-1 and advance to the semifinals with a pair of victories, 1-0 over Deptford on a goal by Gianna Pizzella, and 3-1 over Central Regional as Jess Durnian, Chelsey Garkowski and Kim Price scored. Garkowski assisted on the other two goals. Lauren McElroy remained steady in goal for both games. The Green Dragons won section championships in 1996 and 1997.

"We're so excited," said Garkowski, who has been a lethal scorer and also a tenacious marking back. "Everyone is so superstitious. They sit on the same seat on the bus, bring the same food, wear the same things."

So it's no surprise that the Green Dragons, if they won on Monday, would be hoping for another long bus ride on Thursday against Moorestown.

And she said the 11 seniors wanted to leave their mark.

"Everyone was tired of losing, and with the 11 seniors, it's their last chance," said Garkowski.

And the team showed resilience in bouncing back against Central Regional after giving up a penalty kick eight minutes into the game and trailed, 1-0, at halftime. In the past, the Green Dragons, like many teams, would not recover from that.

"The thought crossed my mind," said Brick Township coach Mike Berardinelli. "But with the way we've been playing, I was not overly worried. We did not score in the first half, but we controlled the pace and had an 11-1 edge in shots."

So are the Green Dragons, who earlier handed Jackson Memorial its first loss in 12 games, on a goal by Ashley Barbiretti, playing their best soccer at the end of the season?

"These past few games, we've done the best we could," said Garkowski. "There were some games we've played extremely well, but this is first time we're doing it game after game."

Garkowski agreed that her team is scoring a lot more reliably and consistently than in past seasons, and said it might have to do, in part, with changing the formation from a 4-3-3 last season to a 4-4-2.

"All of our forwards are fast and aggressive, and they get help from Jordan Farley and Jess [Durnian] and the other midfielders," Garkowski said.

"We are playing a complete game, from the goalie through the defense through the midfield through the forwards and people coming through the bench," said Berardinelli. "They're playing individually well and playing in a team effort."

He also credited the leadership of McElroy in goal and the other seniors in the field.

While Brick Township loses a bunch of seniors, Brick Memorial has only three graduating: Bri Fischer, Kelly Bruett and Kelly Perri.

"This loss still stings, but we have a lot of girls coming back who will have experience and can get better," said Caruso, whose team also lost its Shore Conference Tournament opener to then-unbeaten Colts Neck High School.

The returnees from this 11-8-1 team include high-scoring Ricky Suhl, who scored 16 goals, and fellow forward Kendyll Stahlin; midfielders juniors Noelle Piccone, Tori Capestro and Jen LiPuma, who had transferred from Red Bank Catholic, sophomore Marissa Nieves, who was hurt much of the season, and freshman Allie Reber. There also are junior defenders Jordan Downs, Jackie Caravella and Jade Gouvel and freshman Maria Moore and sophomore backup MacKenzie Ross. Both goalies also return — junior Jaci Kosh and sophomore Becca Aubry.