The South River High School girls’ soccer team has been nearly perfect this fall.
South River is 11-1 and it has outscored opponents, 55-9. Its lone blemish was a 5-1 road defeat to South Brunswick High School on Oct. 2.
Other than that, the Rams are perfect. In their 11 victories, the Rams have outscored their foes, 54-4.
This brush with perfection reveals a deeper reality: South River is elite on every part of the field, offense, midfield, defense and goalkeeping.
With such a connected unit, the Rams will be a prime contender for the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 1 sectional tournament title. They have the fourth most power points in the Central Jersey, Group 1 standings.
They also have not yet lost to a Group 1 opponent. South Brunswick, the only opponent to defeat South River this fall, is a much bigger school than any Group 1 school, to the point of being in Central Jersey, Group 4, the classification for the biggest schools in Central Jersey.
All that said, the Rams have not yet played the three teams in front of them in the Central Jersey, Group 1 standings, either. Those teams are 10-3 Shore Regional High School, 10-1-2 Spotswood High School and 10-3 Florence Township Memorial High School.
So the Rams won’t have an easy path, but they will be extremely hard to beat, even for Shore Regional, Spotswood and Florence.
The Central Jersey, Group 1 sectional tournament will begin on Oct. 26 or 28, depending on South River’s seed, matchup and location.
“Our goal is to win more than one game in the state sectional tournament,” said South River coach Don Minto.
A team that has allowed nine goals in 12 games should be able to grind out close playoff games. South River’s competitiveness, like it does for a lot of soccer teams, starts in the back with its goalkeeper, sophomore Tiffany Fischer.
Fischer has eight shutouts and 43 saves this fall. She has even had to make eight or more saves in three different victories/clean sheets.
But Fischer is not the only reason for South River’s defensive prowess. Her three returning starter backs, senior Ashley Fischer, Tiffany’s sister, junior Neriah Figueroa and junior Camila Lucas, have clicked from the start of the season because they are used to playing together.
Minto was confident before the season that the defenders would click.
“We are better suited defensively,” he said.
The coach was more concerned about his offense.
“Our biggest problem will be finding girls to score,” he said.
Yet surprisingly, the offense also clicked from the start. South River scored eight goals in its 8-0 victory over South Amboy Middle/High School in its season opener on Sept. 4.
Seniors Khayla Smith, Lauren Schmidt and Vitoria Cassiano have sparked the prolific attack. Smith leads the Rams with 18 goals. Schmidt has 10 goals and eight assists. Cassiano has eight goals and two assists.
As a team with 55 goals, the Rams are averaging almost five tallies per contest.
The Rams are so good that all 11 of their victories have come by multiple goals. They will surely have to play some close games in the state sectional tournament, but they should be strong enough to win those, too.
“We hope to just be competitive in every game we can,” Minto said.
