BORDENTOWN – It’s a whole new ball game for the Bordentown Regional High School girls soccer team this fall. By moving up to the Burlington County Scholastic League-Liberty Division, the Scotties and coach Dominick Castaldo have their hands full with a tougher regular season schedule against bigger schools like Cinnaminson, Delran and Northern Burlington.
Castaldo, who is in his 39th season as head coach of the Scotties, believes his squad has the “talent” to rise up to the challenge and will benefit from their tougher schedule come postseason time.
“They have the talent to be really good. It’s just a matter of them getting acclimated to each other and to the schedule,” Castaldo said. “Every day we’re coming out and playing a high-quality team. We’re seeing progress against some pretty good teams.”
Bordentown is 2-5 throughout its first seven games of the 2022 season.
After earning a 2-0 victory over Pemberton on Sept. 19, the Scotties faced off against Cinnaminson the following afternoon in Bordentown.
The Scotties got off to a fast start against Cinnaminson, taking a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute as senior Victoria Wheeler scored her fourth goal of the season on a penalty kick.
Bordentown took its one-goal lead into the half, only to see Cinnaminson strike for two goals in the first five minutes of the second half to take the lead.
Things had quickly turned for the Scotties, who were now in comeback mode. Bordentown battled “tooth and nail” the rest of the way to try to even things up, but Cinnaminson goalkeeper Lea DelGrippo kept that from happening by finishing the contest with 11 saves to help the Pirates earn a 2-1 victory over the Scotties.
It was not the end result Bordentown wanted, however, Castaldo told his squad after the game that he was very pleased with their performance.
“This was the best game we played as a team,” Castaldo said after the loss to Cinnaminson. “Every game has been a building block for us. We’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Wheeler and junior Julie Wojcik are two key returners that Bordentown will look to lean on this fall. Both players have scored a team-high four goals so far this season.
Castaldo said having both players back, especially Wojcik, provides Bordentown a lot of experience and leadership on the field.
Wojcik, who missed all of last season due to injury, had a stellar freshman campaign for the Scotties in 2020 with six goals scored and a team-high seven assists.
“She gives us a whole different dimension (on the field),” said Castaldo of having Wojcik back this season. “Her quickness and her intelligence on the field adds to the dynamic of our team.”
Anna Stalnaker (sophomore), Thalia Revy (senior), Isabella Candelori (senior), Brooke Guire (senior), Sophia Klama (senior), Jessica Bassion (senior) and Natalia Villanueva (senior) fill out the rest of the starting lineup for Bordentown.
In net, Bordentown has seen freshman goalkeeper Allie Glenn step up and play well after junior Emily Young went down with a concussion during the first game of the season.
Glenn recorded eight saves during the team’s loss to Cinnaminson on Sept. 20
“She’s come in and done a great job,” Castaldo said of Glenn.
Bordentown will look to get things back on track against Burlington Township on Sept. 23.
