At halftime of a recent girls’ soccer game at North Brunswick Township High School, the officials started talking about Samantha Moxie.
The Edison High School forward had just delivered three goals in the first half, staking the Eagles to a four-goal lead over the host Raiders.
“She seems to gain ground away from her defender with every stride,” said one official.
“Yeah, it’s pretty exciting to watch,” said the other.
Moxie’s long legs make her strides look natural and effortless. She is not so much running as galloping down the center of the pitch.
But Moxie’s breakaway speed would be less effective without her ball skills. Most high school girls’ soccer players rush to make a play when they get the ball.
Moxie corrals the ball on her right foot and seems to relax. The junior boxes out her defender with her long arms, controls the ball inside her big toe and starts galloping.
By the time she reaches the box, the defenders are in the dust. It is just Moxie and the goalkeeper, and Moxie wins a lot of those battles.
On two of her first-half goals, she dribbled behind the defense and blasted the ball past the keeper. On the third, she slipped past the defense and kicked the ball out of midair and into the net.
Moxie added an assist in the second half for good measure, leading the Eagles to a 6-2 victory over North Brunswick on Sept. 27.
She now has 16 goals and four assists in 2018.
Edison is 7-0 in Greater Middlesex Conference’s White Division play, 1.5 games up on second-place Sayreville War Memorial High School. The Eagles have scored 36 goals in eight games, a productive 4.5 goals per contest.
With Moxie, Edison usually has the best offensive player on the field. And with junior Hailey Verdicchio, Edison often has the other best offensive player on the pitch, too.
Verdicchio is the opposite of Moxie in every visible way. She is short, strong and relentlessly energetic.
Verdicchio’s style of play is not effortless. She is always hustling at full speed, winning balls from defenders and poking them through to Moxie in the offensive third. This is how Moxie got her breakaways on Sept. 27.
“I think she is the real key to everything they do,” said North Brunswick assistant coach Maureen Shamy. “Moxie is a great scorer. Hailey is the one who’s all over the field making plays.”
But in the second half on Sept. 27, Moxie returned the favor to her classmate, chasing down a ball in the corner and chipping it into the box. Verdicchio booted it out of midair, over the goalkeeper’s head and into the net.
The duo ran toward each other to high five. They were totally in sync on Sept. 27, as usual.
“I make sure I stay wide, watch my line and when she passes it I just cut inside,” Moxie said.
“Me and Sam have played a long time together, so we know each other well. I just try my best to understand where Sam goes. That’s what works best for us,” Verdicchio said. “We have a good connection.”
Shamy was right about Verdicchio. She is the playmaker. The junior has 11 assists and 10 goals in 2018, leading Edison in total points.
Verdicchio and Moxie have combined for 26 of Edison’s 36 goals.
“They work really well together. They do that every game. Hailey and Sam have a lot of speed up top and they use that to their advantage,” said Edison defender Jessica Hoover. “When they see those gaps in the defense, they just take advantage of them. They are amazing.”
“It’s taking your opportunities and just finishing them,” Verdicchio said. “If you don’t, there’s nothing.”
