The Ocean City and Mainland Regional boys soccer teams and volleyball teams and the Mustang field hockey team were eliminated from the South Jersey Group III sectional tournaments last week.
Mainland boys soccer
The Mainland boys soccer team wrapped up a solid 14-5-1 season, falling to Timber Creek (13-5-1) 2-1.
Mustang James Breitinger scored first in the game, assisted by Matt Velasquez, to give Mainland a 1-0 lead in the first half, but the Pirates scored twice in the second period to knock the Mustangs out of the South Jersey tournament. Goalie Brandon Dionicio made three saves in the loss.
Breitinger was one of the three leading scorers for the Mustangs this season with 10 goals and 13 assists. Teammate James O’Donnell was a goal ahead of him with 11 scores and 13 assists. Mainland’s Cooper Brookbank led all with 13 goals and three assists. All three are juniors.
Other scorers for the Mustangs this season included senior Anthony Alejo with four goals; senior Ben Christodoulou and sophomore Cole Stefano with three goals each; junior Brody Miller and sophomore Ty Pierce with two goals each; and senior Andrew Brummett and junior Bryan Perez with one goal each.
Dionicio made 74 saves in goal over 15 games this season and Broer Linblad 18 saves across six games. Both are sophomores.
Ocean City boys soccer
Ocean City’s boys soccer team (8-9-2), the No. 13 seed in the tournament, lost to No. 4 Hammonton 1-0. Hammonton improved to 12-6-2. Raider goalie Eddie Fuller, a junior, made eight saves in the loss.
Junior Chase Bowman led the team in goals and assists.
Mustang field hockey
The Mainland field hockey team, the No. 12 seed in the South Jersey Group III tournament, lost to No. 5 seed Northern Burlington (13-4-2) 4-2.
Northern Burlington put up three goals before Mustang Elaina Dinofa scored in the third quarter, followed by teammate Molly McCully to narrow the margin to 3-2, but a fourth-quarter score put the game out of reach for Mainland.
After a slow start, the Mustang girls finished the season with a 10-6-3 record.
Dinofa and fellow senior Katherine Crozier-Carole led the team this season in scoring with 16 and nine goals, respectively. Crozier-Carole had six assists and Dinofa four.
Freshman Callie Bean had five goals and two assists and junior Joey Hemphill had four goals and two assists.
Six Mustangs had three goals each — seniors Madison Siglin, Aryanna Perez and McCully, and juniors Talia DiDomenico, Lily Studer and Helen Malia. Senior Francesca Jacovini and sophomore Alexis DeFeo had one goal each.
Volleyball
After the Mainland and Ocean City girls volleyball teams won their opening-round games, they faced some tough competition and were eliminated from the South Jersey Group III sectional tournament.
Ocean City, the No. 9 seed, upset No. 8 seed Central Regional 2-0 in the opening round, but had to face top seed Moorestown in the quarterfinals.
The Red Raiders (10-14) fell in straight sets 25-14, 25-11.
Mainland, the No. 6 seed, came up against No. 3 Shawnee (15-8) and also lost in straight sets.
The Mustangs lost 25-14, 25-16. They finished their season with a 14-11 record, after graduating most of their starters from the 2023 season when the girls won the sectional crown.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
