OCEAN CITY – A hot and humid morning at Carey Stadium was not enough to slow down junior Naomi Nnewihe. The Red Raider racked up a hat trick in the first half to lead the Ocean City girls soccer team over rival Mainland 4-0.
“I was excited and a little nervous because of the Mainland-Ocean City rivalry, but I was excited to come out and show what I got,” Nnewihe said after the match.
The 2021 Mainland Mustangs are still the last team to defeat the Red Raiders, with Ocean City going 15-0-4 last year en route to winning the Cape-Atlantic League championship.
This was the first game of the season for the Raiders as the previous week’s game versus Millville was postponed due to the excessive heat.
“After the postponement we just had to regroup and just focus on this game and make sure we got off to a really good start,” Ocean City head coach Lisa Cuneo said postgame.
Ocean City could not have asked for a better start as Kati Maxwell ran 25 yards down the right sideline and centered the ball for Nnewihe’s first goal of the game, a point-blank shot past Mainland goalie Genevieve Morrison. The Raiders were up 1-0 four minutes into the game.
Ocean City kept Morrison busy all day, making 16 saves, including two before the 15th minute.
After an inbound throw by Ocean City, Nnewihe hustled to the ball, ran past a Mustang defender and got behind the goalkeeper to score her second goal on a wild play.
“I just kept running,” Nnewihe said. “I just put on the afterburners and got to the ball first.”
Cuneo praised the attacker after the game: “Unbelievable touches across the board. The league knows her; she is a force to be reckoned with.”
Due to the excessive heat, the teams were given a water break at the 20-minute mark of each half.
Cuneo called that “a fantastic idea. Everyone gets to regroup before going back out there.”
Good defense by Morrison and Reilly Nagle slowed down the Raider offense after the break until Coryn McDonnell made the best pass of the day.
At the 34th minute, McDonnell dribbled the ball up field and kicked the ball through two defenders, right into Nnewihe’s lap. Nnewihe took her shot to complete her hat trick thanks to the needle-threading pass from McDonnell.
The half ended with Ocean City up 3-0 thanks to great passing and Nnewihe’s offensive prowess.
Early in the second half Nnewihe was driving towards the goal and collided with Morrison. She had her feet taken out from under her and came out of the game. She came back into the game after the water break.
Cuneo said after the game that “Naomi is all right and she just needs to hurdle jump the girl next time.”
Right before the break Hudson Scola scored with a powerful kick for the Raiders to extend their lead 4-0.
After trading offensive possessions for the final 20 minutes of the game, the Raiders celebrated beating their rival and starting the season with a win.
The Mustangs have not started on the right foot, dropping to 0-2 on the year after suffering a 1-0 loss to Egg Harbor the week prior.
“Today I think Ocean City played more physically and showed their speed up top,” Mainland head coach Chris Meade said after the game. “We have to focus more on the little details so they cannot get crosses and not allow corner kicks.”
“Listen, it’s early, we are not happy where we are, but we have been through this before and we are going to get better,” Meade said.
Mainland was at Middle Township Tuesday and host Vineland at 4 p.m. Thursday.
Ocean City was traveling to play the Egg Harbor Township Eagles Tuesday and will be home Saturday, hosting Deptford at 10 a.m. at Carey Stadium.
By WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
