WEST LONG BRANCH – In last Tuesday’s 15-6 win over Holmdel, Shore Regional senior midfielder and Ohio State-commit Mary Kate George scored six goals and assisted on four others giving her 302 points in her four-year varsity career at Shore Regional.
A first-team All-Shore selection a year ago, George has recorded 226 goals and 76 assists in her career and is chasing a number of all-time school records for scoring at Shore Regional with well over half the season still to play in her final year for the Blue Devils.
So far this season George has been a scoring machine notching 30 goals along with 12 assists while picking up 15 ground balls.
“Mary Kate has been putting in between five and seven goals a game for us plus balancing it out with a number of assists,” said Shore head coach Samantha Warner of her star player. “She’s a natural leader and what I love about her most is that she leads by example. There’s never a day she doesn’t come to work hard and she’s always dialed in and ready to go. She’s completely selfless on the field and uses her teammates to be successful while motivating them at the same time. They don’t make players like her now. She’s just a fighter, very humble and just goes hard all the time. She fights every minute she’s on the field and her teammates see that and feed off her.”
Tuesday’s win against Holmdel – ranked ninth in the Shore Conference – was also a nice bounce-back win for the Blue Devils after a rough 17-7 loss to Allentown – ranked No. 11 in the state – two days earlier.
“We needed that win after our tough loss on Saturday against Allentown,” said Warner. “Allentown’s incredibly talented but we didn’t play as strong as I anticipated we were going to play. We’re so young that sometimes the gravity of the situation of them just being ready wasn’t there. I can’t fault them for that being that they’re mostly sophomores and freshmen. But I was really proud of the way they bounced back and that just shows a lot about their character and the fight that they have and the fact that they don’t quit. Being able to bounce back like that is a sign of maturity even though we’re a young team.
“Holmdel’s always a good team and they play us so tough. It’s always a fight so we were prepared from the first whistle to just go hard because they always play us super tough.”
Although young, the Blue Devils are still ranked eighth in the Shore and their 4-3 record is a bit deceiving with all three of their losses coming against ranked opponents. Besides their loss to Allentown they dropped a 10-9 overtime decision to No. 3 Red Bank Catholic and a 13-10 loss to Rumson-Fair Haven – ranked No. 10 in the state.
“We forced RBC into overtime and honestly it could’ve gone either way,” said Warner. “Then against Rumson we just fought and fought and I don’t think they expected us to come at them as long and hard as we did. I think the loss against Allentown was good for the girls to see that some of the things we’ve been telling them that they need to focus on in practice were exposed. To play a team at the level only opens our eyes to what we’re capable of. But I think our underclassmen are so incredibly talented that people are kind of surprised at the talent we have on the field – seeing we’re so young.”
The Blue Devils routinely have eight to nine freshmen and sophomores on the field at the same time including sophomores Lily Santi (2 goals, 2 assist), Rachel Dwyer (18 saves), Holly George (2 goals) and Sophie George (16 goals, 1 assist) and freshmen Cailey Canesa (17 saves), Ryan Malfa (11 goals, 1 assist) and Maddy Karpe, who Warner feels is already one of the top defenders in the Shore.
Senior midfielder Kelsey Moore (8 goals, 2 assists) and junior Renee Bongarzone (5 goals, 1 assist) are key upperclassmen contributors.
In George’s freshman and sophomore seasons the Blue Devils won the NJSIAA South Jersey Group I championship and I asked Warner if she thinks George is motivated to go out with another title.
“I would love to say yes it’s in the back of her mind and I’m sure as a competitor it’s there,” said Warner. “But being we’re so inexperienced in goal and having eight to nine freshmen and sophomores on the field at any given time I think that her focus is on being the best we can be whether it’s in practice or in a game.
“Postseason play is definitely something we’re working towards and I think we have the talent to make a run,” added Warner. “But I think Mary Kate is focused on leading a very young team against teams that are very well seasoned and I give her a lot of credit. Every day she fights to get her teammates better and that’s really her focus and I commend her for that because this is her senior year. She’s chosen to leave a legacy of just showing these kids what it takes to be a player and leader at this level.”
UPDATE: On Saturday the Blue Devils traveled to Colts Neck and lost a tough 15-13 battle to the sixth-ranked Cougars. The loss drops Shore’s overall season record to 4-4 and the Cougars remain undefeated at 7-0.
- 2023 JSN Awards Finalists Announced - December 18, 2023
- Sunil Sunder Raj Recaps Day One of State Football Finals With OnNJ (VIDEO) - November 27, 2023
- Mental Health and Exercise: Finding Balance in New Jersey's Fast-Paced Life - November 27, 2023
