By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – Like many teams across the Cape-Atlantic League, the Ocean City High School girls soccer team decided not to delay senior day, choosing to have it at the first game of the season Saturday, Oct. 3.
The girls also decided not to delay the scoring, beating Wildwood Catholic, 9-0, on the artificial turf at Carey Stadium on a sunny morning.
What made senior day extra special was that all the team’s seniors – including three defensive players – had at least one goal. That will give opposing teams more to think about than focusing in on scoring powerhouses Faith Slimmer and Summer Reimet, whose 35 goals apiece last season led the team to a first-ever state championship.
From early appearances, the only thing that will limit the goal totals by Slimmer and Reimet this fall is the abbreviated season. Slimmer had a hat trick Saturday and Reimet had two goals.
“All five of our seniors scored today. What a better way to celebrate senior day?” head coach Lisa Cuneo said.
“Two outside backs and our center back. That’s three seniors. You can’t argue when two outside backs and a center back score in a game,” Cuneo said.
“We told those girls, who usually don’t score, if they want to get in on the scoring they better get there early,” she said. “You have to call off the dogs at some point. We were able to get our subs in and our subs got some decent time today too, but we only have a 10-game season so these girls have to play.”
The Ocean City girls could have been leading by even more, even earlier, if not for the stellar play of Wildwood Catholic goalie Leona Macrina and her defenders. Macrina was getting hammered with shots early and often, but made numerous leaping and diving saves to keep the Red Raiders off the board for the first 15 minutes of the game.
“She was fantastic, and they played us smart,” Cuneo said of the Crusaders. “They packed it in on us and the goalie saved what she could. We didn’t score until 15 minutes into the game and that was a credit to their backs and to the goalie.”
“They had to earn them,” the coach said about her players’ goals. “It was a credit to Wildwood Catholic and a credit to our girls to keep grinding, to keep figuring out how they can get it in.”
She said as a coach she has to consider when to start substituting players after getting a big lead. Cuneo said the “go-to” number was six Saturday, giving her seniors a chance and then giving the subs varsity time on the field.
“I love them that they all want to play. None of them want to come off (the field). It’s just trying to keep the competitiveness in line,” Cuneo said.
Senior Faith Slimmer opened the scoring with 24:26 left in the first half.
Center back Suzy Dietrich came up from her defensive position to blast in a shot from about 35 yards out with about 22 minutes left.
Slimmer got her second goal about the 14-minute mark, and then outside back Kamryn Chisholm, another senior, lofted in a beautifully placed shot just under the bar with 8 minutes left.
Reimet scored her first goal of the game with about 2 minutes left and came in on goal from the side with about a minute left to ricochet a rebound shot off the goalie, who was right by the post.
In the second half, senior outside back Kelsey White found the net about 4 minutes in, followed by Slimmer getting her hat trick a minute later, and then senior Paige Panico scored some 3 minutes later to give the girls their 9-0 lead.
Talking about having defenders scoring, the coach said Slimmer and Reimet, as the leaders of the potent Red Raider attack, expect to be marked, often double-teamed, “but double-teaming means somebody is freed up and the rest of the team can take advantage of the situation. It makes their job (the attackers) harder up top, but it opens some space for some people to get their shots off.”
Cuneo was happy with her girls’ performance Saturday.
“My halftime speech to them was that they had a slow start. I would say they had a slow start – maybe other people would argue that – but I told them to concentrate on a few things, their first touch and their last touch, and make sure they cleaned up both of those.
“They’re still trying to figure each other out at this point of the season,” she added. “We have to figure things out a little faster with the shortened season, but … once things are calmed down and they get their first goal, you can really see the difference.”
She noted that getting a big lead early has advantages.
“As a coach, it’s always nice to be able to relax a little bit, but we’re always looking to get better. We’re not looking for the easy way out. That’s what we hope,” Cuneo said. “We hope the girls will keep working, will keep progressing and keep everything moving in the right direction.”
The girls were at Middle Township Tuesday, after the Sentinel went to press.
At 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, Ocean City heads to rival Mainland Regional.
