LINWOOD – Summer Reimet stood out Monday afternoon, scoring two goals and getting an assist on the opening goal as the Ocean City High School girls soccer team registered a 3-1 road victory over rival Mainland Regional in Linwood.
Ocean City continued its winning streak against rival Mainland, going up 2-0 at halftime. Mainland’s only two losses last soccer season came at the hands of Ocean City, including a Red Raiders victory in the 2020 NJSIAA Girls Soccer South East B semifinals.
The victory lifts Ocean City’s record to 3-0 in the season, even though Mainland became the first team to score on the Red Raiders this year. Mainland lost for the first time this young season and now stands 2-1-1.
“This is the game everyone gets super pumped for,” said Reimet, who forced Mainland’s defense to spend a significant amount of energy trying to stop her. “I’ve been waiting for this since I woke up this morning. I wanted to play the game right then and there and I’m excited to come out with the win.”
It was another frustrating contest for the Mustangs, who pressed Ocean City in the second half after getting their first goal but seemed one step short of making the big play most of the night.
“My freshman year we beat them twice but now we haven’t beaten them since, but it feels like we get one step closer and closer,” said Mainland senior Camryn Dirkes, who assisted on the Mustangs’ only goal early in the second half to put the heat on the Red Raiders. “Coach (Chris Meade) said he was proud of us and we’re already looking forward to our next game against them.”
For all of Reimet’s goal-scoring talents, her best play might have been assisting in the Red Raiders’ first goal.
Operating on the right corner on Mainland’s end of the field, Reimet soared a near perfect crossing pass to a well-positioned Naomi Nnewehi right in front of the goal who punched it into the net at the 35:38 mark of the first period to give the Red Raiders an early 1-0 lead.
“It was my first season goal and I’m really excited,” Nnewehi said. “I had an assist and I had my chances earlier but I feel like there’s more to come. I thought the goalkeeper was going to come out [for the ball]. When she didn’t, I said, ‘Oh, it’s here.’ I was happy and excited to get my first goal.”
Reimet said players practice for goals like that in hopes a situation in a game creates itself so you can finally pull it off.
“I’m proud of Naomi,” Reimet said. “We’ve been working on plays like that all season, so the crossing ball and making sure it’s finished is huge.”
The play of the game, though, came on the defensive end with 9:00 left to play in the first half. During a free kick just beyond the top of the penalty box, Mainland’s Alyssa Turner booted a perfect shot that appeared to be heading toward the top of Ocean City’s goal.
Red Raiders goalie Tori Vliet, though, tipped the ball over the post with a leaping effort, preserving Ocean City’s one-goal lead. Moments later, Reimet converted Vliet’s long boot downfield to dart past Mainland defenders for her first goal with 7:50 before halftime, lifting O.C. to a 2-0 advantage.
“Honestly, I knew I would get it,” Vliet said of the game-altering save. “I trust myself and know my abilities, so I knew I was getting it. You never know where they are going to go [with a free kick]. You can have faith in yourself that you can get it.”
Of the rare goalie assist on the score two minutes later, Vliet said it was a moment she had been waiting for.
“I’ve been working on getting that for the longest time,” Vliet said. “It’s been so great to get it especially with Summer. It was great to have it right after that save because I was so hyped up after that. I was ready to go.”
Ocean City coach Lisa Cuneo admitted that Vliet’s save was the difference-maker.
“I think we need a better word than ‘big’ to describe how important that save was for us,” Cuneo said. “That was an enormous, game-changing moment.
“For the assist, she’s been trying it at practice and has put in the work and in that moment she rose to the occasion. That’s what we need to win big games like this. We need big moments like that to wins games like this against great opponents. We need to have turning points in our favor.”
Mainland, though, got back in the game at the 29:28 mark of the second half, as the Mustangs dominated play early. Jane Meade scored on an assist from Dirkes, cutting Ocean City’s lead in half and giving the momentum back to the Mustangs.
“At halftime, we talked about how we controlled most of the game and had the advantage despite those two plays in the first half,” Dirkes said. “We knew if we could put one in the back of the net we would have the momentum but there’s only so much you can do. I felt we held it up at the top a lot but we just couldn’t get another one in the back of the net.”
The Red Raiders’ defense held off Mainland’s hard-charging offense the rest of the game. Then, Reimet gave Ocean City the room it needed with a goal with 22:00 left to play.
“Summer is a woman on a mission this season,” Cuneo said. “She’s got records on her mind. First and foremost, it helps us. She’s a force to be reckoned with because of her size, speed and touch with the ball.”
By CLYDE HUGHES/Special to the Sentinel