After a tough five weeks to open the season, the Howell girls soccer team celebrated with a win to start the first week of October.
Senior Megan Meyers and sophomore Julianna Caccamo each scored a goal apiece and junior Jessica O’Brien and senior Gianna Enea each added an assist apiece to lead Howell to a 2-1 victory over Manalapan in Farmingdale on Oct. 2.
Sophomore goalie Grace McDevitt recorded nine saves for Howell (2-8-1), which won its second game of the season, its first since a 5-1 home win over Marlboro back on September 14.
“At pre-season, we really stressed a few things that we wanted to develop as the season matured. We never really made it a goal to have the best record or the focus on just winning. Our philosophy has been that a record would never define us as a team. We stressed that we play for something bigger. We play for each other,” said Howell head coach Cristy Casella. “Obviously, winning is the point, but not the purpose. More than anything, we try to play with our core values at heart. Values like team first, we choose to be positive, there are no unimportant details, an eagerness to sacrifice personal interests or glory for the welfare of all, giving your very best at all times, we are a collection of friends first, and soccer players second, and we seek excellence in all areas, not just soccer.”
Senior Alexis Serido leads the Rebels in goals scored with six and Enea leads the team in assists with three.
“If we embrace these actions on a daily basis on and off the field then we are in essence winners. Our goal was to make Howell the best place to play soccer. The best meaning, love the girls you are playing with, develop relationships that go beyond soccer, awesome team chemistry, you fight for game time and do not hold it against your teammate, you are not mad when you are subbed out, and no matter what we have each other’s back. A record neglects to represent the above,” said Casella. “For us it is not about one person. We embrace the meaning of team. We are at our best when all of us understand that we all play an integral part to this team. At times, we all have different roles, sometimes it is score goals, sometimes it is block the shot, and more times than none, it is being supportive. We stress do your best at everything, but be great at something that matters to this team. Model if for your teammates. Raise the bar for everyone. Everyone matters. We are at our best when we play to our standard and maintain a continuous improvement approach.”
For the upcoming week, Howell will host Colts Neck, No. 9 in the latest NJ.com Top 20 rankings, on Wednesday, October 11 and will host East Brunswick on Friday, October 13.
“Heading to mid-October, I think that we have learned many lessons along the way, making us tougher. We have experienced all aspects of the game. We have been defeated, we have defeated, we have come back and won, we have tied, we have even been on the side of lady luck, and most recently on her bad side,” said Casella. “A team that goes through it all is team that has been tested.”
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