OCEAN CITY — On an unseasonably warm November afternoon, the Ocean City High School girls soccer team punched its ticket to the semifinal round of the playoffs with a 3-0 victory over Toms River South at Carey Stadium.
Ocean City (19-4, third seed) now heads to Cherry Hill West (16-5-1, second seed) on Nov. 11 with an opportunity to play in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III championship game against the winner of Shawnee (first seed) and Moorestown (fifth). Upsets in both matches would allow the Red Raiders to host the sectional final.
Cherry Hill West has a balanced attack, featuring sophomore Veronika Jablonski with 14 goals, 9 assists, senior Julie Short (12, 4) and senior Julia Lewis (9, 3). Goalkeeper Maddison Jarrett has 101 saves in 18 games played.
Against Toms River South, the Red Raiders’ high-powered offense started slowly but then began to assert itself, especially in the second half when they controlled much of the possession, effectively playing keep away from the Indians.
“We knew that team was going to be good and knew we had to up our game. Once we settled down, we showed the team we are going to be for the rest of the postseason,” head coach Sean Matteo said.
“We didn’t play our best soccer,” senior co-captain Naomi Nnewihe said, “but we got the result and that’s all that matters.”
“I thought we started out a little bit frantic but settled into the game and handled the business that we needed to,” senior co-captain Brooke Liebrand said.
Nnewihe said the girls are looking forward to playing in the semifinal match.
“We have some things to work on but if we play our soccer, we’ll be fine,” she said. “I believe in this team and I’m so proud to play with them.”
Three different players hit the back of the net on three terrific goals.
“It’s good when we don’t need three goals from Naomi to win. We can get it from a bunch of different people and that’s big. That’s going to help us, especially in the next round,” Matteo said.
Liebrand extended her hot streak with a goal and an assist, following a three-goal performance in the previous match, a 7-0 win over Winslow Township in the opening round.
Her secret? “Swedish Fish before every game,” the senior said.
Matteo said Liebrand has been a pleasant surprise for the offense this season.
“It’s crazy to think that at one point in her career she was a defender. She was in the midfield at the start of the season; we saw something that we could do to change and adjust and she’s moved up. Her and Naomi are just a lethal pair up top,” he said. “It’s been fun to watch because a lot of the attention has been going to Naomi. She still makes magic happen and Brooke’s right there, she’s getting the ball and she’s finishing.”
Senior Coryn McDonnell scored the opening goal, striking through a ball set up perfectly by Liebrand. Junior Jaida Dooley took the throw-in from the goaltender’s right side, landing a perfect pass at the feet of Liebrand, whose back was to the net. She blocked out her opponent and poked the ball back to McDonnell for the strike at 31:13 of the first half.
Liebrand scored her own goal a little more than 7 minutes later, one-timing a pass from Nnewihe, who had muscled her way from the corner into the middle for the short pass.
Sophomore Emma Vince (15, 10) scored the insurance goal, stealing the ball inside the 18-yard box and firing it home for the 3-0 lead.
Entering the game, Toms River South had scored just 41 goals this season, compared with 89 for Ocean City.
“We definitely recognized the goal differential coming into the game. I think it was important for us to come out aggressive and really recognize that and put some goals in the back of the net,” Liebrand said.
Due to her excellent defense, senior goaltender Kaia Ray had little to do in notching another clean sheet for the Red Raiders, her eighth this season.
Matteo is looking forward to the next round.
“It’s going to be a great game. Their coach (Katina Anthony) is fantastic; she does a really good job with that team. We know it’s going to be a battle; a South Jersey semifinal in the hardest group. Any one of the four could go out and win it,” he said.
Matteo said it’s going to take an 80-minute effort to pull off the upset.
“The first 20 really didn’t go our way (against Toms River South), but if we can perform the way we did in the last 60, we’ll hopefully take care of business,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough one. We hate that we have to go on the road but we have done well on the road this year.”
The team is 9-2 this season off the island.
– STORY and PHOTOS by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
