Five-time defending sectional champion Shore Regional advanced to the Central Jersey Group I semifinals with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over fifth-seeded Point Pleasant Beach Thursday in West Long Branch.
The win pushes the fourth-seeded Blue Devils (16-4-2) a step closer to their ultimate goal of winning their third straight NJSIAA Group I championship.
The two teams battled to a scoreless first half before the game turned to Shore’s favor four minutes into the second half. That’s when junior Frankie McDonough fired home a shot that got by Point Beach goalie Toni Abdy – who finished with 12 saves in the game – for a 1-0 lead.
Three minutes later, senior Kendall Rich followed up McDonough’s goal, scoring unassisted to push the Blue Devils lead to 2-0 with 33:48 still left to play.
“I think it came down to what team wanted it more,” McDonough said of the win. “For us, we’re two-time defending state champs and it really comes down to we know we want to get a third title in a row. The first half was a little shaky because we came out a little bit nervous. But we know how we play, we know our game and I think after halftime we brought the intensity. We then scored two goals in the first ten minutes and that’s what really made the difference.”
However, just 19 seconds later, what appeared to be a comfortable two-goal cushion suddenly evaporated when junior Julia Cairns dug into Shore’s lead, drilling a shot off a setup by junior McKayla Hughes past Blue Devil goalie Julia Valinoti to pull the Garnett Gulls within, 2-1, at the 46:31 mark.
Shore then controlled possession following Hughes’ goal sending a number of shots on goal at Abdy, including a Julia Eichenbaum burner that smacked off the crossbar with 23:10 remaining in the game.
“I think after we went up 2-0 our team kind of relaxed a little bit,” said Shore Regional head coach George Moutis. “Point Beach is a good team and they came back and capitalized. Then after that I guess it was a wake-up call so the girls really stepped it up and we took a little more control of the game.”
Point Beach (15-5) did have one scoring opportunity late in the game but a close-range shot sailed high-and-wide and they never threatened again.
“I think sometimes we tend to get a little comfortable after we score and that tends to be a problem,” said McDonough referring to her team’s play in the second half. “After they scored everyone was a little down but we were up 2-1 and we knew we didn’t need a goal; we just needed to play our game. We needed to possess the ball and make sure they didn’t get in again and I think we did a really good job of making sure they didn’t get in our half a lot.”
The Blue Devils now advance to play No. 1 seed Metuchen in the Central Jersey Group I semifinals. Metuchen easily got by ninth-seeded Riverside by the score of 6-2. The Bulldogs are 15-3-1 and went undefeated (10-0) in the GMC Blue Division to take the crown and are ranked sixth in the GMC Top 10.
“I think we do feel a little pressure knowing we have a target on our backs and all teams want to beat us,” McDonough said of her team’s chances of three-peating. “But we know the team that we are and we have faith in ourselves. Our coach is really proud of us and he knows we can get the job done and we just got to believe in ourselves that we can do it.”
“We tell the girls that they have a mark on their backs so you better be ready,” said Moutis on how he prepares his team moving forward. “Everyone wants to beat the champion, so you can’t just walk into a game; you have to go 1000 percent all the time. But whatever happens, we’re very proud of them and it’s been a fantastic run.”
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