Three Red Raiders, two Mustangs on winning South Jersey Senior All-Star team
Five area all-star girls soccer players got the opportunity to end their high school career with a win Nov. 23 in the South Jersey Senior All-Star Game at Rutgers University-Camden.
Players from Ocean City and Mainland Regional high schools went head to head four times in 2021, each winning two matches. That was the end of the story for the majority of both teams, but three Red Raiders and two Mustangs got one final chance to go out crowned in glory.
Summer Reimet, Hope Slimmer and Kasey McDonnell from OCHS and Camryn Dirkes and Alyssa Turner from MRHS were among 44 players from across South Jersey selected to the all-star team by the South Jersey Coaches Association.
The girls were split into two sides, red and white, and played their final game in the shadow of the Ben Franklin Bridge along the Delaware River.
“The girls said there was good camaraderie among each other and all of the players from different schools,” according to Summer Reimet’s mother, Kathy Reimet. “It was a great culminating high school event for them.”
Ocean City head coach Lisa Cuneo was chosen as one of the three coaches for the white team, which consisted of all five players.
Cuneo said the event was “a great way to send them off, I’m glad we got to have it. It was cool to see the dynamic of them knowing so many other girls. It was fun to see them out on the field together.”
White won the match 5-1, with Reimet notching two assists and Dirkes one.
“The game was well attended with fans, and there were plenty of college coaches from the region buzzing around checking out the uncommitted players,” said Kathy Reimet, who attended the game and said it was a great contest.
“Although the white team possessed much of the game, and had more offensive opportunities, both teams were skillful and connected passes very well. The soccer was what I would call ‘pretty soccer,’ which was a testament to the tactical and technical level of the players on both teams,” she said.
The game
About 9 minutes into the first half, Summer Reimet received a pass at the top of the 18 from Nikki Dedes of Shawnee and sent a one-touch lateral pass to an open Remi Newcomb of West Deptford for the finish.
With 5 minutes left, Micaiah Croce of Gloucester County Institute of Technology received a nice pass out to the right side of the 18 and lofted a well-placed shot over the goalkeeper’s head into the upper left for a 2-0 halftime lead.
About 15 minutes into the second half, Dedes finished a goal of her own from the 18 off a short defensive clear.
Just a couple minutes later, the same trio from the first goal repeated. Dedes sent a pass to Reimet’s feet. With her back to the net, she sent a through-ball to an overlapping Remi for the finish.
With about 20 minutes left, Summer scored off a long ball from Cami Silvestro of Eastern that rebounded off goalkeeper Rebecca Silipena of Absegami but was called back offsides.
About 10 minutes later, Cierra Penny of Lenape scored off an assist from Emme Fuegel of Cinnaminson for a 4-0 lead.
With about 8 minutes left in the match, the red team scored on a two-on-one breakaway to put themselves on the board.
Then with only 3 minutes left, Dirkes sent a pass to Fuegel for the final goal of the game.
Slimmer “was her usual self, hustling and winning balls in the midfield, sending nice balls into the attack. McDonnell played great defense for the white team against some of the better forwards in South Jersey,” Kathy Reimet said.
Summer Reimet said she was excited to get a chance to play another game and it felt good to go out with a win.
“It was great playing with Kasey and Hope again and Coach Cuneo,” she said. “It was nice going out with another win instead of thinking of the Mustangs all the time.”
Dirkes also enjoyed the opportunity.
“I wish it could have been with my whole team but at least I got to do it with Alyssa,” Dirkes said, noting head coach Chris Meade was there cheering them on.
Dirkes said it was interesting playing with the Ocean City girls after four years of battling it out on the pitch.
“It’s our rivals, but once we started warming up we were nice to each other and cheered each other on,” she said. “I feel like the rivalry doesn’t live on outside when we’re playing against one another.”
Dirkes said it was easy to adapt.
“We’re all competitors and great teammates on our individual teams so we were great teammates together,” she said. “We can all hold our own in that type of game, which says a lot about the soccer in our area.”
“It was definitely a different feeling being on the same side of the field but nice to be able to cheer them on, nice to give them some support,” Turner said of playing with the Ocean City girls.
The Red Raiders and Mustangs split their regular season games, each winning on the other’s field — Mainland in dramatic fashion.
The first meeting, Monday, Sept. 20, ended with a 3-1 win by Ocean City, with goals from Reimet (2) and freshman Naomi Nnewihe. Dirkes assisted on Mainland’s goal.
In the rematch, Oct. 12 in Ocean City, Dirkes scored in the dying seconds of the second overtime period to steal a 1-0 victory.
Ocean City then defeated Mainland 2-0 in the Cape-Atlantic League title game Oct. 18, with first-half goals from McDonnell and Reimet.
But the Mustangs got revenge, topping the Red Raiders 5-4 on penalty kicks in the semifinal round of the South Jersey Group III playoffs.
Mainland then went to penalty kicks against Lacey Township in the sectional title game later in the week, losing 4-3 after Dirkes leveled the game on a header after a free kick by Turner from the circle with the clock winding down.
“It was a nice way to end the season on a good note, and not have that as the last high school experience,” Turner said, referring to the loss in the South Jersey Group III title game. “It was heartbreaking to know we almost had it but I’m still so proud of how far we came.”