Local soccer enthusiasts would be hard pressed to find two more evenly matched conference powers than Saint John Vianney and Shore Regional.
In their current form, the Class A Central standings have these two clubs gridlocked atop the division at 8-0-1.
Their only collective blemish on otherwise spotless records is of course the 1-1 stalemate these two outfits played to on Sept. 20.
“They’re a very good team just like we are,” said Shore Regional coach George Moutis, who is in his tenth season at the helm of this Blue Devils program. “We knew they were going to be a very tough opponent coming into the season, and we saw that in our first divisional game of the year. Now we’re looking forward to the next one.”
Round two of this heavyweight bout is slated to take place on Oct. 10, and will have division championship implications riding on the result, but Moutis and his Blue Devils are not looking at it in that fashion.
“We’re not focusing on division championships at this point. It’s absolutely a goal of ours, but you can’t focus on that. We’ve been talking to the girls about the process; taking care of business each day in practice and in the games. If you continue to improve each day and do what you need to do, the winning will take care of itself.”
Shore Regional has certainly done a lot of that throughout this 2017 campaign, as the Blue Devils have played to a 10-2-1 mark, their only two losses coming to fellow Shore Conference power Freehold Township, and state championship contender Lenape.
Shore Regional has dominated within the division, outscoring opponents, 40-8, in their eight Class A Central victories.
The Blue Devils’ success is due much in part to the offense produced by Julia Eichenbaum and Frankie McDonough.
Eichenbaum, a sophomore, leads the team with 19 goals, while McDonough, a junior, has delivered 18 tallies and a club-best 11 assists.
“They’ve been great for us,” Moutis said of his dynamic duo. “Whenever we’ve needed a big goal they’ve been there. Whenever we’ve needed to get going early, they’ve been there. We’re looking forward to seeing what they can do the rest of the season.”
Including their upcoming matchup with Saint John Vianney, Shore Regional has three divisional games left on its regular season schedule, including meetings with Red Bank Regional and a tough Rumson-Fair Haven team on Oct. 14.
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