MADISON, NJ – On November 14, 2024, the Madison Girls soccer team won their first Section title since 2011, but they weren’t finished yet. Madison played in the New Jersey Group 2 state final on Saturday, November 23.
Madison ended the season 21-3, beating Bernards in the section final and then going on to beat Ramsey in the state semifinal, who had an undefeated season and was the previous state champion. After their win against Ramsey, sophomore goalie, Antonia Waddington said to the Daily Record, “Our mindset was they’re undefeated because they haven’t played us yet.”
Alana Flynn, who scored the game winning goal against Ramsey in overtime, said to Charlie DeLuca from TAPinto Madison, “We knew that we had nothing to lose and that we were the underdogs here. This is something to really enjoy.”
After losing against Mountain Lakes during their first game of the season, they went on to win every other game but two. The team played Point Pleasant Boro at Franklin High School in the state final, who has a 20-2-2 record for the 2024 season. Point Pleasant won against Haddonfield in their state semifinal game with a score of 4-0.
Although they fell 3-1 to Point Pleasant in the final, it is no reflection on how well they did during the season as a whole, and there is still much to be celebrated. The Madison Girls Soccer team had not made it to the state final since 1987, and they beat the previous school record of 16 victories which was during their 2023 session. The team has had an extremely historic season, winning a record amount of games and having one of the most successful seasons in Madison history.
During the game, sophomore Camryn Visich scored the goal for Madison against Point Boro goalie Ava Bjorndahl, which was the 9th goal Point Boro had let in all season. Anna Gominiak spoke to Jane Havsy of the Morristown Daily Record saying, “We made some history,” which is a fact of which all her teammates would agree.
Madison will look toward the team’s 2025 season with high hopes, many outstanding seniors will be graduating, but that will not deter the team from being the best they can be and working hard to achieve or even beat their previous records.