LINWOOD — The Mustangs scored three unanswered goals in the second half to complete the comeback, topping the Red Raiders 4-3 in a Cape-Atlantic League girls soccer game Sept. 30 at home.
Emma Tenaglia, the team’s top scorer, notched a goal and an assist to lead Mainland Regional High School on a cool, cloudy day.
“It feels great, but it was a good team effort and I feel like we played really hard as a team because we wanted it so bad. So I’m glad that we got it done,” Tenaglia said.
The senior said the win was cathartic.
“We feel good because we were coming back from a couple bad losses, but we kept our heads up,” she said.
Junior Maddy McBride had a goal and an assist, sophomore Nola Person a goal, senior Abigail Elliott a goal and sophomore Tessa Camac two assists.
Ocean City High School’s squad had goals from sophomore Mya Dever and senior Emma Vince, along with an own goal by Mainland, to take a 3-1 lead into halftime. Vince and seniors Cara Myers and Aurora Brown each had an assist.
The contest did not start out well for the Mustangs, who were on the back foot right away. Constant pressure from the Raiders resulted in an early goal (35:36), which was knocked in by a Mainland player trying to clear the area for a 1-0 lead for Ocean City.
But Mainland did not shy away from the adversity, playing smart passes and working as a team to level the score just 6 minutes later (29:43) when McBride fired a shot from the right side into the net, beating Ocean City goalkeeper Madi Adams. Tenaglia provided the assist.
The Raiders, who were 8-2 entering the match and topped the Mustangs 2-0 in the previous matchup, then showed their grit less than 4 minutes later (26:06) when Vince beat senior goalkeeper Riley Townsend from a tight angle to retake the lead 2-1.
Mainland continued to fight for a result and Tenaglia had an open net and a chance to equalize at 21:53 but fired her shot high.
Things quieted down for a bit until Dever found herself open in front of the net following a poor clearance attempt. She made no mistake, firing home her team-leading seventh of the season to take a 3-1 lead with just more than 5 minutes remaining.
Mustang head coach Fred Napoli took his girls to the side during the break, and the pep talk proved motivating as the girls made it a 3-2 game less than 2 minutes (38:38) into the second stanza.
McBride took the ball to the right corner and crossed through the defense to find Person alone for the easy goal.
The Raiders seemed to lose confidence and resorted to playing the long ball, but strikers were called offsides multiple times, preventing a breakaway score.
Nearing the midway point of the second half, Elliott scored following a scrum in front of Adams, knocking the equalizer into the net at 26:14 for a 3-3 game. Camac recorded the assist.
Less than 10 minutes later, the Mustangs were celebrating again as Tenaglia scored the game-winning goal with 16:36 remaining.
The Mustangs improved to 5-5 overall, 5-4 in the CAL American Division. Mainland lost twice to league-leading Egg Harbor Township, 6-1 and 3-1, which also handed Ocean City two of its losses.
“The girls showed a lot of heart. I thought we were doing some really good things in the first half and we just made a couple mistakes and they capitalized,” Napoli said. “So we came out and we wanted to be on the front foot and we wanted to be aggressive and we were aggressive and we were on the front foot and we did a good job.”
The coach said he made no major adjustments at halftime.
“They know what they have to do out there. I have a good group of leaders and they did a really good job,” he said.
Mainland changed goalkeepers at halftime, replacing Townsend with Emilia Perez, who had the second-half shutout.
“Honestly, that was actually good for me because I’ve been having a little bit of a rough streak lately and that just boosts my ego,” the junior said.
Perez said communication was the key to good defending, especially when Ocean City played the long ball.
“It was kind of pressure, but our defense got back and that’s all I needed,” she said.
Ocean City head coach Kelly Halliday returned to the helm this year. She last coached the Raiders in 2019, winning a state championship. The Raiders fell to 8-3, 6-3 in the CAL American Division.
“I thought we played really well in the first half, and I thought the second half we just got outworked,” Halliday said. “Mainland-Ocean City games, for as long as I’ve been around, have just been a crazy game. No matter what, it’s a good rivalry, it’s good soccer, it’s good energy.”
Halliday is not overly concerned, saying the team can learn from the loss.
“We have a good program. We win as a team, we lose as a team. We’re going to move forward. … I’m not necessarily upset about the loss, I’m upset just how we responded in the second half.”
Dever said the result was “just kind of frustrating.”
“I feel like we worked so hard all together at once at practice — it’s like one big family — and then we get the games and we put three in in the first half, and then just can’t seem to finish in the second half. I mean, a loss, you learn more from a loss than you do from a win,” she said.
Mainland beat Our Lady of Mercy Academy on Oct. 2 and played Absegami on Oct. 6. They travel to Schalick on Oct. 10.
Ocean City defeated Absegami Oct. 2 and traveled to Cherry Hill East Oct. 5. They visit Vineland Oct. 7 and Eastern Oct. 10.
– STORY by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
