Wednesday,
September 11, 2013
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Kristen Sherlock scored late in the first half to send Holy Angels to a long-sought opening day win, a 3-0 triumph over Bergen Tech on Tuesday. |
HACKENSACK – Opening-game jitters is something the Holy Angels’ soccer team knows all too well. Whether playing a team that is of a comparable skill level or playing a team like rival powerhouse IHA, the Angels never seem to put their best foot forward in the first game of the season. It appeared to be déjà vu this time around after their offense was sputtering early in the season-opener against Bergen Tech. But a fortuitous bounce and a hustle play by Kristin Sherlock led to the game’s first goal. That was all the Angels needed to get on track in the game and for the new season.
Sherlock’s goal in the 31st minute opened the scoring and junior Amanda Grimanti added a pair of second-half goals as Holy Angels broke a long hex of season-opening losses with a 3-0 road win on Tuesday at Bergen Tech.
“It was really important us to win the first game being we haven’t won in the four years I’ve been here and probably a lot longer than that,” said Holy Angels’ head coach Megan D’Alessandro. “Bergen Tech came out strong and they outhustled us early on, but we started to pick it up about midway through the first half and started running through ball. After getting the first goal, we played like a different team. We set our sights at halftime on scoring a few more goals and we did that. It’s a pretty good feeling for us to get the season going on a positive note.”
The teams were feeling each other early on as neither attack was able to threaten the net. That was until a long punt by Holy Angels’ goaltender Grace Ritter took a big bounce over the back line and right onto the foot of Sherlock, who was sprinting along the left side. The senior striker raced in alone and tucked a shot past Bergen Tech keeper Julia Monaco inside the far post with just under nine minutes remaining in the half that gave the Angels a 1-0 lead at the break.
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Julianne Goodman had the best scoring chances for Bergen Tech. |
“I saw it was going to take a big bounce and I made my run,” said Sherlock. “I try to use my speed to my advantage and it felt great to score the first goal. The field was tough to play on and it took us awhile to get used to it. Once we did, things started clicking for us and we played with more confidence in the second half.”
The second half was all Holy Angels with Grimanti doing the damage up top. Nicole Macaluso won a ball along the sideline and crossed the ball wide to Grimanti, who dribbled in and blasted one home from 12 yards out just over two minutes into the second half.
“That second goal happening so early in the second half really deflated us,” said Bergen Tech head coach Victor Cabezas. “I thought we played pretty well in the first half with how we moved the ball around, we just weren’t getting enough shots. Once that second goal went in, we were a totally different team after that. We put our heads down and they scored again to finish us off. We’ll just have to shake it off because we can’t turn back the clock and do something about it. All we can do is use this experience to make us a better team moving forward.”
Six minutes later, Grimanti found the back of the net on a nearly identical goal off of a long ball from Isabella Theodorobeakos to make it 3-0.
“I played a little bit wider in the second half and it gave me more space to make my runs,” said Grimanti. “On any through ball I saw that (Monaco) was being aggressive and charging after every ball. On both goals, she came out quickly so I had to react fast and get those shots on net.”
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Amanda Grisanti scored twice in the second half as Holy Angels pulled away in the road win. |
Ritter needed to make just two saves to earn the shutout for Holy Angels (1-0), who held a 12-5 advantage in shots. The Angels also got solid performances from Macaluso and Jenna Bruno in the midfield along with Theodorobeakos, Gabriella Messina, and Nicole Giambalvo defensively.
Despite letting in three goals, Monaco made several nice point-blank saves among her eight for Bergen Tech (0-1). Julianne Goodman had the only dangerous scoring chances, finishing with three of the Knights’ five shots.
Holy Angels’ schedule gets much harder over the next week with a match against up-and-coming DePaul on Thursday before playing IHA on Monday. But for now, the Angels are simply savoring the win and the feeling that the best is still yet to come.
“We started with five straight losses last year, so to get this one is great for these girls,” added D’Alessandro, who coached the Angels to a 7-11 record last year after the slow start. “We have a lot of seniors this year and we are striving to do much better than we did last year. There’s a long way to go but this is a positive first step.”
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