Cougars get accustomed to life in tough A North
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

In the first week of play, the Colts Neck Cougars girls soccer team has learned a lot about the Shore Conference A North Division.

"There's no easy games, they're all tough," said coach Dave Irvine. "Any team can beat anybody."

The Cougars, making their A North debut this fall, have gotten off to a nice start, 2-0-1, but it has been a hard-earned two wins and a scoreless tie with Freehold Township.

While learning how difficult their new division is, Colts Neck has remained confident that it can contend for the division title and set postseason play as their goal.

The Cougars were a young team last year and bring a lot of experience to the pitch this fall, led by its defense. Ali Fourniadis, Kate Bower and Samantha Santo have been one step ahead of the opposition's forwards, keeping shots-on-goal at a minimum. Goalie Kristin Mann, who is a returning starter herself, has been solid.

The team's midfield play has been very strong. Jenna Campfield, Kathlyn Herrick, Kassie Jordan, Gabby Haden and Samantha Payne have been winning the 50-50 balls, keeping control of the ball and initiating the attack with their passes.

Meri Lasner and Kim Campfield are the returning forwards, and freshman Carly Haden has been providing a lift off the bench.

The Cougars have not been putting a lot of goals in the back of the net, but Irvine believes it's just a matter of time.

"It's inconsistency right now," he noted. "We have the capability to score."

Manalapan, one of the teams that Colts Neck will have to get through in the division, has gotten off to a 1-2 start. However, the Braves are always dangerous. Rick Garretson has a veteran club that is not used to being on the sidelines in November.

The Braves have a balanced returning nucleus to build on. Sue Candiano and Kate Toto, who are good finishers, are back on the forward line.

Play-making midfielders like Christina Isolda and Amy Carhart, and defenders led by Annie Periggine and Angelica Modica, make the Braves a good bet to make their annual trip to the conference and state playoffs.

The other returning veterans are Lindsay Berman (midfield), Cassie DiPaola (midfield), Stacy Ganely (goalie), Shannon Lenahan (defense), Lauren Rosella (midfield), Kate Toto (forward), Kristian Vitro (forward), Ashtyn Foley (midfield), Sukdeep Grewal (midfield) and Tiffany Owen (defense). Of this group, Carhart is the only sophomore. The rest are juniors and seniors with two and three years of experience.

Newcomers expected to help out this fall are Ashley Bordman and Hailey Aimone.

The prospects for a big turnaround at Freehold Township are very bright. Caroly Beismann's squad returns most of its players, including Rachel Breton, from the team that went 6-8-2 in '05.

Breton was an All-District selection as a sophomore last year. Her lightning-quick speed makes her a threat with or without the ball. She is more than just a goal scorer, however. A very good passer, Breton makes those around her better and is the team's spark.

Also returning are co-captains Jenna Impastato (defense) and Marissa Devine (midfield), Kate Weinberger (forward), Ali Shrang (forward), Laura Stempek (midfield), Jennah Conti (defense), Alyssa Delguercio (defense), Adj Tepedino (defense), Tara Troisi (defense), Erin Cordiner (goalie), Paige Allen and Riana Bauman (forward).

This is a very experienced unit, with Impastato, Devine, Weinberger, Shjrang, Stempek, Conti and Delguercio all seniors.

Additions to the club are Laura Delguercio, Desiree Reese, Amy Buckiewicz and Jessica Blitzer.

The Patriots went 1-0-2 in their first three games, beating Howell 3-2 and playing Raritan and Colts Neck to 0-0 ties.

Tepedino, Weinberger and Buckiewicz all tallied goals for the Pats against Howell, with Buckiewicz's tally in the 72nd minute breaking a 2-2 tie. Cordiner made 16 saves. She had 18 more in the scoreless tie with the Rockets.

Howell will have a mixture of youth and experience as Cristy Callahan and the Rebels look to climb back to the postseason.

Jacqui Rucci (forward/midfield), Joanna Montefinesse (midfield), Katie James (midfield), Lauren Hoenig (goalie), Margaux Pickell (defense), Stephanie Regina (goalie), Lauren Cadott (midfield), Olivia Grimes (defense) and Sara Shaughnessy (defense) are the returning players.

Howell lost a lot of its firepower to graduation. Based on early season performance, two newcomers, Maria Kaminski (forward) and Alyssa Fiorillo (forward), are going to help fill that void.

Other newcomers include Jamie Szyarto (forward), Julie DiFiore (forward), Daniella Ferreira (midfield), Kristin Gaul (forward), Stacy Maraldo (forward), Stephanie Wood (midfield), Chrissy Fisher (midfield), Joelle Urqhart (defense) and Devin Hope (defense). The 0-2 start is certainly not welcome, but in the two years prior to last year's 5-8 campaign, the Rebels were a very strong second-half team, making the state tournament each year.

Marlboro is looking to take steps forward this fall after a 3-12-1 season. The Mustangs have a lot of players returning with experience to start the turnaround for coach Tim McGeough.

Stacey Huber (midfield), Jackie Karlovich (defense), Jaclyn Smulofsky (goalie), Jocelyn Bellemare (defense), Nicole Pecora (defense), Ari Mandell (midfield), Chelsea Buttacavoli (midfield), Andrea Rehr (defense), Alexa Bucchere (midfield) and Maria Antonios (forward) are all back from last year. This is still a very young team with only Huber, Karlovich and Smulofsky seniors.

Newcomer Lauren Panfile has been doing a very good job in goal for Marlboro, as has the Mustang defense. A pair of 1-0 losses have prevented the team from getting to better than a 1-3 start.

In their 7-1 win over Long Branch, veterans Buttacavoli, Karlovich and Antonios scored, while newcomers Heather Roe, Ashleigh Boyce and Taylor Siegel got into the action. Blaustein, Boyce, Antonios, Sam Friedman, Siegel and Harley Goldstein dished out assists.

Panfile made one save in picking up the shutout.

Meanwhile, Freehold Borough continues to roll in B North. Heshy Moses' Colonials won their first big match of the season, 1-0, over Ocean Township on Saturday.

Alyssa Mayrose, assisted by Alexa Rozzi, tallied the only goal of the match at 29:50.

Freehold Borough's defense and goalie Ashley Lewis made the one goal stand up. The Colonials are now 4-0 and Lewis has yet to surrender a goal.