Fazzari, Kelly, Towers head All-District soccer
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

VERONICA YANKOWSKI staff Freehold Borough’s Jen Towers was the District’s top goalie once again this season, earning her a spot on the All-District Team.

Four outstanding teams made for an unforgettable 2003 girls soccer season in the Freehold Regional District.

Dave Irvine’s Colts Neck Cougars were the best of the best this fall, winning the Central Jersey Group III championship and advancing to the Group III title game played at the College of New Jersey. The state’s No. 1 team, Ridge, prevented the Cougars from claiming their first state title, but was unable to diminish what the Cougars had achieved.

Led by Michele Fazzari and Meighan Kelly, Colts Neck won the Shore Conference B Central title for the second straight year, and then went about making their mark in the postseason. They advanced to the semifinals of the Shore Conference Tournament for the first time and, in the state sectional, won their first Central Jersey title, beating Freehold Borough. A shoot-out upset of No. 3-ranked Lacey, the SCT and South Jersey champion, put the Cougars in the state final.

Colts Neck finished the season 20-2.

Rick Garretson’s Manalapan Braves won their third consecutive A North Division title, and again ranked among the best teams in the Shore. Lindsay Kotula and Pam Yellin sparked the Braves to a third straight unbeaten season in the division. The Braves were 11-4-3.

Heshy Moses’ Colonials were an unlikely state playoff contender. The Colonials were 1-6 back in September, and going nowhere, when the senior captains held a players-only meeting. After getting across to the underclassmen what is expected, the Colonials went 13-2 the rest of the way and reached the Central Jersey final for a third straight year. They ran into the talented Cougars in the final, but Jen Towers, Cristen Grimm, Megan Phillips and teammates had the borough playing deep into November.

Laurie Downs’ Howell Rebels came up one goal short of an A North title, losing to Manalapan, 1-0. The Rebels, led by sweeper Courtney Krol, would make up for that with a magnificent state playoff run. Howell would avenge its loss to Manalapan in the state sectional with a 1-0 win and would advance to the Central Jersey Group IV final for the first time in school history. Howell, 12-5-2, was edged, 1-0, by eventual state champion Brick Memorial. Howell, though, had proved its point — the Rebels were as good as anyone.

Players from this quartet of teams occupy all of the positions on the News Transcript’s 2003 All-Freehold District Girls Soccer Team.

From Colts Neck, Fazzari and Kelly are joined by teammates Suzanne Witkowski, Katelyn Gilanyi and Lauren Cittadino. From Freehold Borough, there is Towers, Grimm, Phillips, Kerry Little and Colleen Rackett.

Krol, Samantha Vadas, Ali Goldsmith and Christina Rourke represent Howell. From Manalapan comes Kotula, Yellin, Toni-Ann White and Brenna Zielinski.

Fazzari has been an impact player since she started on the front line as a freshman. Each year, the Cougars kept improving, while she was one of the most consistent scorers in the Shore. This year, Fazzari and her teammates put it all together. The highly-skilled forward had 22 goals and 22 assists. She was lethal on restart and direct kicks, as the Cougars used her strong leg as a weapon on those plays. In the sectional final against Freehold, she scored on a restart and added two assists in the 4-1 win. Against Lacey, she proved to be so much more than an offensive player, when she played defensive midfield as the Cougars looked to nullify the Lions’ speed up front. She is the complete player.

The versatile Kelly was everywhere. She had 15 goals and 14 assists for the Cougars. But her value was her competitive desire. Against Lacey, she moved from center midfield to marking back as Irvine felt she was the only player who could handle the Lions’ scoring machine, Traci DePasquale. Kelly shadowed her and kept her from scoring a point as the team played to a 0-0 tie with the Cougars advancing through the shoot-out.

With Witkowski on the forward line with Fazzari, teams couldn’t afford to put all their attention on Fazzari. Witkowski, a junior, was dangerous in her own right, as her 17 goals and 17 assists prove.

Towers signed her letter of intent to play basketball for Rider University during the season, but reminded everyone why she was one of the state’s best goalies. The 6-foot-2 Towers has been the constant in net for the Colonials during her four years. Starters have come and gone on defense during that time, but she’s the reason the borough made it to the state sectional final the last three years and won it in 2001.

Towers had 11 shutouts this year and finished her career with a school-record 44. She has been a security blanket that will be sorely missed. Colonial defenses could always take an extra chance knowing that she was there to clean up any mistake.

The poised Krol was the heart and soul of the Howell effort. A leader in every aspect, from the way she conducted herself both on and off the field to the way she inspired her teammates, Krol was the team’s field general. She was a physical presence on the field who exemplified Howell’s gusty, hard-nosed effort. She was the reason Howell was one of the most difficult teams to score on in the Shore, registering shutouts in 10 of its 12 wins. Krol was a four-year starter.

Goldsmith and Vadas represent Howell’s future. Goldsmith, a sophomore center halfback, was one of the core players on a defense that took pride in keeping shots to a minimum and the ball out of the net, while Vadas, another sophomore, flexed her versatility by playing marking back on defenseand playing forward when the team needed scoring.

When Rourke settled in at keeper, it gave the Rebels the confidence they needed. The junior posted 10 shutouts this year and will be one of the team’s forces next fall.

Manalapan struggled to generate offense early in the season, and that’s when Garretson moved Kotula up from sweeper to forward, to team her up with Yellin. They proved to be a perfect fit for each other and the team. They got the offense moving and sparked Manalapan to its A North three-peat. Kotula had 14 goals and seven assists during the season, and Yellin added 11 goals and four assists.

Freehold Borough usually struggles to score goals, but this fall, junior Rackett stepped it up and provided a consistent scorer that teams had to be concerned about. The striker had 12 goals and eight assists.

Midfielder Little was the table-setter for the Colonials. She had just one goal this year, but dished out 10 assists.

Phillips moved from the back to forward line, adding firepower up front. She had nine goals, and saved most of them, it seemed, for the state playoff run.

Colts Neck generated a lot of offense from its midfield, led by Kelly. However, Gilanyi and Cittadino, a pair of underclassmen, did their share. Junior Gilanyi had 10 goals and nine assists, while sophomore Cittadino had nine goals and seven assists.

Grimm quarterbacked another solid defensive effort by Freehold Borough. As the sweeper back, she was the backbone of the Colonial defense, always in the right place. She could also start the transition to offense with her dribbling and passing.

Manalapan stayed on top because its defense was as tough to score on as ever. One of the reasons Garretson was able to move Kotula to forward was Zielinski. The sophomore was able to fill in for her without any drop-off in play. She teamed with veteran back White, a senior, to anchor a defense that produced nine shutouts.

Those earning Honorable Mention in 2003 are: Sam Areman and Danielle DeNigris, Colts Neck; Kim Agbulos and Brianna Rozzi, Freehold Borough; Christina Tarrant, Christine Menhart, Maura Burk and Sam Moody, Freehold Township; Courtney Mason, Howell; Anita Valerio, Meghan Manisero and Angelica Lyons, Manalapan; Brittney Greenhouse, Ali Kronenfeld, Samantha Diamond and Lauren Saretsky, Marlboro.