Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Rahway
In what might have been the defining moment of their magical season the Scotch Plains U14 intercounty girls soccer team the “Wild Things” showed their mettle and came up with their most important victory to date as they ran their record to 8-0-0 with a comeback 2-1 victory over previously undefeated Rahway, Sunday at Evergreen Field, Scotch Plains. Trailing for the first time all season and held scoreless in the first half the “Wild Things” rallied for two goals on direct kicks by Kaitlyn Denker and Alexus Jegede
and with clutch goal keeping by Allie Thek ,held on for the dramatic win.
The game had all the aura of a championship game, befitting the two squads who had 14 wins and one tie between them this year. A large crowd was treated to a pre game “shout down” where each team tried to outyell each other during warmups.
Rahway was riding the momentum gained from a comeback from a 2-1 deficit to tie Scotch Plains last week at Soccerfest and eliminate the “Wild Things” while winning the tournament, and came out strong in the first half. Their pressure resulted in an own goal by Scotch Plains off a corner kick. With the “Wild Things” back on their heels, Rahway had a couple of other good scoring opportunities but several good saves by Thek kept the halftime score 1-0.
Ten minutes into the second half, The “Wild Things” got the break they needed when Denker’s 40 yard direct kick went high into the goal over the goalie’s reach. The goal fired up the “Wild things” who pressured Rahway continuously and got another break on a handball near the net. Jegede calmly converted the penalty kick and now it was up to the defense and Thek to nurse the lead which they did although there were many nervous moments. Lauryn Adams made a game saving block on a point blank shot in the last five minutes.
Thek played the entire game in goal and was extremely aggressive in the second half, taking numerous loose balls away from possible trouble.She was abetted by the defense c of Lauryn Adams, Christina Dokopoulos, Denker, Amanda Curcie,
Danielle Sette and Kathleen Yan.
The midfield of Katelyn Cavanagh, Jessica Santos, Whitney Adams, Debra DelleDonne, Kristin Ciecura, and Jaclyn Lazarus were effective advancing the ball. The line combination of Rebecca Von Langen, Mary Kate Feury, Cassie Berwick, and Jegede advanced the ball skillfully and put continual pressure on the Rahway goal. Cavanagh was a huge weapons with her long throw ins.
The remaining schedule is not known at this time but the “Wild Things” cannot finish worse than second.
and with clutch goal keeping by Allie Thek ,held on for the dramatic win.
The game had all the aura of a championship game, befitting the two squads who had 14 wins and one tie between them this year. A large crowd was treated to a pre game “shout down” where each team tried to outyell each other during warmups.
Rahway was riding the momentum gained from a comeback from a 2-1 deficit to tie Scotch Plains last week at Soccerfest and eliminate the “Wild Things” while winning the tournament, and came out strong in the first half. Their pressure resulted in an own goal by Scotch Plains off a corner kick. With the “Wild Things” back on their heels, Rahway had a couple of other good scoring opportunities but several good saves by Thek kept the halftime score 1-0.
Ten minutes into the second half, The “Wild Things” got the break they needed when Denker’s 40 yard direct kick went high into the goal over the goalie’s reach. The goal fired up the “Wild things” who pressured Rahway continuously and got another break on a handball near the net. Jegede calmly converted the penalty kick and now it was up to the defense and Thek to nurse the lead which they did although there were many nervous moments. Lauryn Adams made a game saving block on a point blank shot in the last five minutes.
Thek played the entire game in goal and was extremely aggressive in the second half, taking numerous loose balls away from possible trouble.She was abetted by the defense c of Lauryn Adams, Christina Dokopoulos, Denker, Amanda Curcie,
Danielle Sette and Kathleen Yan.
The midfield of Katelyn Cavanagh, Jessica Santos, Whitney Adams, Debra DelleDonne, Kristin Ciecura, and Jaclyn Lazarus were effective advancing the ball. The line combination of Rebecca Von Langen, Mary Kate Feury, Cassie Berwick, and Jegede advanced the ball skillfully and put continual pressure on the Rahway goal. Cavanagh was a huge weapons with her long throw ins.
The remaining schedule is not known at this time but the “Wild Things” cannot finish worse than second.
# posted by David Lazarus @ 9:08 PM 
