Sayreville War Memorial High School has enjoyed a solid girls’ soccer season.
The Bombers are 7-5-1 and have qualified for the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 4 sectional tournament.
But they were eliminated from the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament in the first round on Oct. 16. Sayreville, the eighth seed, dropped a home game to Monroe Township High School, the ninth seed, 5-1.
“What went wrong tonight is we always come out the better team, with better passing, and we have a million opportunities and we just don’t take advantage,” said Sayreville coach Jessica Roy on Oct. 16 after the defeat to Monroe. “Then, when they score on us, we shut down and we don’t know how to reciprocate. In this case, we shut down for the whole second half.”
Monroe scored four times in the second half at Sayreville, turning a one-goal game into a blowout. The Bombers created plenty of opportunities, ripping 11 shots and generating countless runs and open looks in the offensive third.
The issue, according to Roy, was that they lost more midfield battles than they won, which allowed the Falcons to create more chances than the Bombers did. Monroe outshot Sayreville, 21-11.
“You can’t play 80 minutes of defense. You have to start from the midfield and build that momentum up to the forwards,” said Sayreville assistant coach Jessica DaRold. “There was just a little bit of a disconnect tonight. That’s where we saw the gaps start to form.”
“We can be more aggressive than we played tonight,” added Roy.
To win in the state sectional tournament, Sayreville will have to control the midfield for longer stretches. But it will also have to combat a new strategy that Monroe executed on Oct. 16, and that teams started using against the Bombers late in the regular season.
Opponents are double and triple teaming Jackie Ventricelli, who has 17 goals in 2018. No other Sayreville player has scored double digit goals this year.
Ventricelli is such a force that she can overcome extra defenders, to an extent. She scored once versus Monroe, but only once, and it was Sayreville’s only goal.
“We are looking for someone who can stay connected to her centrally and be a good outlet,” DaRold said.
Recently, Sayreville has used senior Stephanie DeOcampo in that role, and as Sayreville’s second-leading scorer with nine goals, DeOcampo is well-suited for it. But she was not able to score against Monroe Township, though she did assist on Ventricelli’s tally.
“They have pretty good chemistry,” Roy said. “Unfortunately, we were just losing the ball (versus Monroe).”
The coaches also said that Ventricelli has to get used to passing out of double and triple teams. She is more accustomed to beating defenders one on one.
“Every time she gets the ball at her feet, if it’s just one defender, she can either go through because she’s stronger, or her speed allows her to get past them,” DaRold said. “But when you have two, three defenders on you, physically you can’t go through that many people.”
“In that situation where she has three people on her, she has to look back,” Roy said. “There will be an outlet behind her.”
Ventricelli is not averse to passing. She has three assists this year. She is just not used to thinking pass first. Sayreville’s attack is designed to get her shots.
Now, Ventricelli and the Bombers will have to adjust. If they can, then they may look back on the Monroe Township defeat as a turning point.
Sayreville will open the state sectional tournament on … against …
“The goal for that (tournament) is to not let this happen again,” Roy said. “To take advantage of the opportunities we have.”
