Monroe Township High School has been the surprise team in the Greater Middlesex Conference girls’ soccer tournament.
The Falcons entered the tournament as the ninth seed after a 6-9-1 regular season.
But then, in the first round on Oct. 16, Monroe Township upset the eighth seed, Sayreville War Memorial High School, 5-1. Two days later, against the No. 1 seed, East Brunswick High School, the Falcons played the Bears to a 0-0 tie before falling in penalty kicks.
Monroe Township may still qualify for the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 4 sectional tournament, so its season may not be over just yet. But if it is, Monroe went out on a positive note.
The Sayreville victory was especially positive. Monroe Township outshot Sayreville, 21-11, and scored four second-half goals, which broke open a close game.
Three players scored in that victory. Midfielders Kylie Fernandes and Isabela Soares both scored two goals, and controlled the middle of the field.
“We played really well as a team and connected very well. We picked up on them playing a really high line and played the balls up to our forwards,” Fernandes said. “I play center mid, so as soon as I got the ball at my feet, I checked to see the open gaps through the defense, and whether to play it through them or over them.”
Monroe Township played better in the second half of the season, going 5-5 in its last 10 games before the East Brunswick loss. Fernandes and Soares were a big reason for that.
“We just really gained connection in the midfield. We hadn’t played together (before), but in center mid we really started to connect and play off each other,” Fernandes said. “That’s how we got a lot of opportunities tonight.”
Once the midfielders started connecting, everyone else started playing well, too. The forwards, the defenders, the goalkeeper, everyone. That was on display on Oct. 16 at Sayreville.
Three Falcons players, Brigitte Bussiere, Joanna Giustino and Paige Magee, notched assists in the game. Another player, Madeline Evans, added a goal. Defensively, the Falcons limited Sayreville’s chances by marking the Bombers’ big scorer, Jackie Ventricelli, with multiple defenders.
“Their whole game plan was to get it to (No.) 25 (Ventricelli),” said Monroe keeper Emma Bodmer, who made eight saves against Sayreville. “Our defense did a really good job of shutting that down. Whenever she did shoot, she didn’t really have a good angle. So most of the time, it was an easy pickup.”
Bodmer, Fernandes and Evans agreed that Monroe’s victory over Sayreville was its best performance of the season.
“It’s probably our best game,” Bodmer said. “It’s definitely the best we’ve worked together as a team.”
“I really think the connection came from positivity. We became friends and started to build chemistry with each other,” Evans said. “We all just became a team.”
“We kind of had to get used to it, and it took that time,” Fernandes added. “But we’re here now, and it’s all good.”
After their big victory, the Falcons had bigger plans.
“Winning the GMC,” Fernandes said.
The Falcons didn’t win the GMC, but they came closer than anyone expected. If they get into the state sectional tournament, they will feel confident that they can beat anybody.
“We take it one game at a time,” Fernandes said. “We need to focus on the next game, how we’re going to perform and the strategies we need to take to win that one.”
