Paulucci's overtime goal secures Colonials' title
Freehold Borough girls win second straight B North Division
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

Jenn Paulucci didn't have time to think, just react."It happened so fast, the ball just came to me and I shot it with my left foot," said Paulucci.

Paulucci's instinctive goal off a throw-in by Alyssa Mayrose 4:01 into the first overtime lifted Freehold Borough (11-1) to a 1-0 win over Wall Township (11-2), and with it captured the Shore Conference B North Division title for a second straight year.

"It's the greatest feeling," said Paulucci.

Until Paulucci's golden goal, it was déj vu all over again in Wall Township. The first time the two powerhouses played in Freehold Borough, the Colonials prevailed in overtime, 1-0. In that game, the hero was Jamie Battaglia, who was put into the game for the overtime and promptly delivered the game-winner.

When the two teams met again on Oct. 10 under the lights in Wall, the division title was on the line with each team having just one division loss.

Again, they played through a scoreless regulation in which Colonials goalie Ashley Lewis thwarted the Crimson Knights. The Colonials had their chances too, and Wall goalie Cara Critchlow came up big.

Coach Heshy Moses and his players had been through this before.

"It was almost a mirror of the last game," said Moses. "We took it to them for the first 10 minutes, and they took over for the rest of the half. It went back and forth in the second half."

When the game went to overtime, Moses and his players were very confident.

"In overtime I always think we're better than them," said Moses. "I don't know why. I think it's the conditioning we put the girls through in August and our attitude. We don't stop until the game is over."

Paulucci also credited the team's conditioning and past experiences of success against the Crimson Knights with carrying the evening.

"We were tired, but we all knew we could go longer," she said. "Overtime is not a big deal to us. Every time we play Wall, I feel there is no way we're losing."

Paulucci's goal backed up her belief that the Colonials were not going to lose.

Mayrose's long sideline throws have been an asset this year. Moses said that the team had scored four times off them this year.

Mayrose, one of the team's four senior captains along with Paulucci, has worked at making her throw-ins a weapon.

"In my sophomore year, I started throwing the medicine ball," she said. "Last summer, I started lifting weights more and developed more muscles in my shoulder."

On the game-winning play, she noted that she was just looking to get the ball.

"Wall has a short field and I was just looking to get the ball in the middle of penalty kick line and hope someone was there," she recalled.

That someone was Paulucci, positioned in the middle of the penalty area. When her chance came, her left-footed volley found its way into the back of the net and the Colonials were champions again.

This is Moses' final season on the borough sidelines and the championship, he noted, provided a perfect symmetry.

"I started off with the girls in 1988 and won the conference, and I'm ending with a conference championship," he said.

After the game, Wall's coach Matt Harmon, who has yet to beat Freehold Borough in four tries over the last two years, shook Moses' hand and asked him if it was true that he was retiring.

When Moses confirmed it, Harmon replied, "Good."

"I took that as a compliment," Moses said.

There's a paper-thin difference on the field between Freehold Borough and Wall, but it is the Colonials who have the hardware.

The 2006 season is eerily similar to 1996 when the Colonials repeated as division champions (they would go onto win a state sectional title). That team presented Moses with a hat that sites the 1995 and 1996 championships. Another hat for 2005 and 2006 would seem appropriate.

But there is more work to do. For the Colonials, the championship is the first step. Memories of last fall's early exit in the playoffs (Shore Conference Tournament and Central Jersey Group III) still linger.

"We're really happy getting the championship," said Moses. "Last year the girls didn't take it to the tournaments and that's something we have to do this year.

"My senior captains Jenn [Paulucci], Kelly [Knox], Caity [Kane] and Alyssa [Mayrose] all feel they let the team down last year."

Paulucci said the Colonials are determined not have the season end like it did last fall.

"We can't let it happen again," she noted.

Mayrose said the six seniors on the team have taken it upon themselves to set the example.

"We can't be satisfied," she said. "It's something we [seniors] talked about. We give 100 percent every time and it rubs off on everyone else. We set the tone for the team.

"We want it to be the best team it can be," she added.

The SCT seedings were Monday night with the tournament starting today. The Colonials will most likely get a first-round bye and not have to start play until Friday.

Teams had to be .500 as of Monday to make the SCT field, while Friday is the cut-off date for teams to be .500 or better to make the state sectional tournament field.