Home›Other Sports›Royson Leads Toms River North Past Jackson and Into Semifinals

Royson Leads Toms River North Past Jackson and Into Semifinals

November 7, 2017

Emily Royson’s direct-kick goal in the 77th minute of a NJSIAA South, Group IV quarterfinal match vaulted fourth-seeded Toms River North over No. 5 seed Jackson Memorial, 2-1, Thursday in Toms River.

It was the rubber match between the two Shore Conference Class A South rivals with each winning on the other’s home field by one goal in the regular season. Toms River North is currently ranked third in the Shore Conference with Jackson right behind at No. 4.

The two schools ended up tied for the division title after splitting their season series and both advanced to the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals before exiting.

The Mariners are the South, Group IV defending champions after winning their first-ever sectional title last year.

Royson drew a foul just outside of the 18-yard box on the left side and drilled it into the net from a tough angle to break a 1-1 deadlock. After drawing the foul call, Royson saw an opening and drilled a shot that deflected off of Jackson Memorial goalkeeper Kylee Sullivan just inside the near post with 3:35 left to play.

Ironically, it was Royson’s foul that led to the game-tying penalty kick against her team but her game-winning goal more than atoned for her earlier miscue.

Jaguars senior Madison Taylor drew a penalty inside the box on Royson and she converted the kick to even the score at one in the 60th minute of the second half and looked as though the two evenly matched teams might be heading to overtime until Royson came to the rescue.

The Mariners (18-2) scored their first goal in the ninth minute of play to take a 1-0 lead when Maddy Bennert finished off a perfect cross from senior Jenna Royson, who beat a defender and served the ball across the box in the air from right to left.

Jackson Memorial (16-5) responded by keeping the pressure on the Mariners defense and they finally broke through after being awarded the penalty kick in the 60th minute. The Jaguars outshot the Mariners, 11-6, for the game and 5-4 for shots on goal.

Jenna Royson took a shot to the back of the head and had to leave the game for more than 10 minutes and was on the bench when Jackson scored the tying goal but returned to her center midfield spot in time for her younger sister to score the winning goal.

Senior Krystal Hund, a 27-goal scorer for the Mariners a year ago, played in just her second game since returning from ACL surgery and being eased in slowly. She played about 10 minutes Thursday after playing about five in Monday’s first-round win over Lenape, according to head coach Tom Miller.

The Mariners will now host No. 8 seed Clearview after the Pioneers upset top-seeded Eastern on penalty kicks Thursday after a 1-1 draw of over 100 minutes.