Girls Soccer: 2021
Girls Soccer fought a tough fight this year, ending the regular season with a record of 9 wins, 4 losses and a tie. They even made it to the state sectional final, where they unfortunately fell to Hanover Park, 2-1. Coaches Kevin Lynott, Tara Alberse and Jess Rosella worked with the girls throughout the season, resulting in a strong finish.
The Dodgers started off strong with 4 consecutive wins, but a roller coaster ride followed with two losses, a tie and then two more wins. On October 7th, they got the chance to celebrate the seniors on the team: Kate Bria, Michelle Cosme, Kayla Davis, Morgan Driscoll, Lauren Fowler, Bridget Hanley, Shannon Kelley, and Brooke Kleiven. They won their senior night game 3-0 against Kinnelon, with goals from senior Brooke Kleiven, junior Alex Reigle, and sophomore Laurene Creteau, and a total of 4 saves from sophomore goalie Riley Holland.
The girls had an excellent season. In the county tournament, their first game was against Kinnelon and they won in penalty kicks after a double overtime performance. They then moved on to play Chatham and unfortunately lost 3-0. Although the county tournament result did not reflect their efforts as a team, the state sectionals tournament was another story. The team was able to acquire enough points to secure the 9th seed in the tournament. They opened against the number 8 seed, McNair Academy.
They started off the tournament strong with an 8-2 win. Sophomore LaurenCreteau scored a hat trick, and there were goals from sophomore Ellison Errington, senior Morgan Driscoll, and juniors Erin Kleiven and Gwen Eilender. They then moved on to play the number one seed in the section, Morris Tech, in the quarterfinals, and won with a final score of 2-1. Moving forward into the semi-finals, the girls had an easy 3-0 victory against Montville to earn their spot in the finals against their rival, Hanover Park.
Hanover, the three seed, ended their regular season with a record of 12-5-2, and unfortunately won the battle, 2-1. The game was well fought despite losing by one goal.
“We definitely had a rough start to the season, but in the end we pulled through with a great record and made our way to the sectional final. It was a really memorable season and I’m honestly so proud of all of us.” said sophomore Laurene Creteau. And of course, their head coach, Kevin Lynott, was incredibly proud of the girls’ effort. He summed up the season as a, “Brilliant achievement by this group of girls- from a shaky start with Covid issues to winning 10 of our last 13 games and appearing in a Sectional Final, the girls should be very proud.”