Absegami Boys' Soccer Team FInds Confidence, Wins

The Absegami High School boys' soccer team hasn’t lost in the month of October.

The Braves don’t plan on losing any time soon.

Absegami (8-3-1) has won five straight games, and eight of its past nine games to become one of the top teams in the Cape-Atlantic League.

“We have great chemistry,” Absegami senior Sean Ahern said. “We are getting into everything and things are starting to click.”

The Braves have been a strong defensive team all season long, allowing 12 goals in 12 games. A third of the goals allowed came in an uncharacteristic performance against Millville. Absegami has allowed more than one goal in four games.

Keeper Ryan Taylor has been strong in front of a talented defense, which has registered six shutouts this season.

That defense will be tested tonight, Oct. 19 against CAL rival Egg Harbor Township. The Eagles, who unlike the Braves made the Coaches Tournament, won the previous matchup, 2-1, early in September.

Ahern said the Braves are looking forward to the meeting.

“They have always been a rival with us,” Ahern explained. “As a team and personally we know them because we played against each other on travelling teams our entire lives. When we played in travel, it was back and forth. We would beat them and they would beat us. They are a very good team. If we beat them this year it will show that we can hang with the caliber of team they are and they beat. We feel like it’s going to be a good game.”

The Braves feel like they are a complete team now, especially with Anthony Maruca playing so well at forward. The Braves have outscored opponents, 13-3 in October.

“We had a few injuries (early), but our main striker Anthony Maruca came back and that has helped generate offense and it has helped the defense focus more,” Ahern said. “With him being back, it has made an impact on the flow of the game.”

The Braves still have some tough regular season matchups left, but the focus is to peak once the playoffs begin.

“We have a lot of seniors and we expected a lot,” Ahern said. “We feel like we are underdogs and everyone is looking down on us. We want to go far.”

Girls Continue Streak

The streak is at 12.

The Braves' girls' soccer team hasn’t lost since Sept. 13, and is 13-1.

One of those wins came Saturday in the opening round of the Coaches Tournament.

Absegami, the No. 6 seed, defeated No. 11 Williamstown, 2-0, with goals by Rebecca Sartorio and Jenna Seddon.

“We had seen them play and we had a good idea what to expect,” Absegami coach Elizabeth Lee said. “I get a scouting report on them and they played exactly the way we thought. We scored one of the goals on a follow and we knew their keeper had a tendency to drop some, and that’s how Rachel Sartorio scored.

“We knew we had the ability to beat them and we had the confidence. We played really well. We should have scored more, but two was good enough.”

The Braves, who made it to the Coaches Tournament finals last year, travel to take on No. 2 Haddonfield in the second round on Friday afternoon, Oct. 21.

“I got a chance to see them play,” Lee said. “They have a really good center midfielder (Katie Johnson) who will match up with Erica Skroski. They play a different style than we do, but we have an opportunity to beat them and move on to the semifinals.”