Both Holmdel Soccer Teams Advance to Semi-Finals

Photo: Holmdel’s Gino D’Agostino

Friday was an exciting day for soccer in Holmdel.

The Holmdel girls varsity team played A.L. Johnson High School, (Clark, NJ), Friday at home in the Central Jersey Group II quarter- finals game. The Hornets dominated the game from the first whistle. Junior Gabby Bair led the team with a big 4 goals, upping her goal tally to 20 on the year, while collecting her 10th assist on another goal by junior Hannah Lee. Hannah Lee also had a big day, with one goal and two assists on Friday, and now has 13 goals and 13 assists this season. Catherine Cirigliano also chipped in a goal to round out the scoring while freshman Kailey Flynn had two assists and junior Rebecca Stanziale had one. The game was never in doubt as Holmdel had 5 goals before the end of the first half. Senior Goalkeeper Helen Burleigh and Maddie Milkowski combined for Burleigh’s 11th shutout of the season.

The girls now move on to face Bordentown at home on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the Central Jersey Group II semi-finals. Holmdel Coach Jennifer Conroy has had two previous teams advance to the semi-finals, only to end their seasons there. This team hopes to be the one to break that mark. As freshman starters, twins Kailey and Abbey Flynn are new to high school playoff competitions but are accustomed to stress from their high level travel teams. Despite the wind and rain, Kailey and Abbey Flynn “are proud of their teammates for keeping their focus and poise and persevering through 80 minutes of play to get the win”. The Flynn girls are confident going into Tuesday’s game that “if they play the game they are capable of, they can compete with anyone”.

Meanwhile, the boys, seeded #7, traveled down the New Jersey Turnpike to Delran High School to face the #2 seed
in their quarter- finals game Friday afternoon. Last year, Holmdel faced Delran in the 2013 quarter-finals and lost in penalty kicks. Delran went on to become the eventual Group II State Champion.

But, repeating as a state champion is a hard task, as Holmdel well knows. And this
year, Holmdel was looking to right last year’s loss. It was a hard fought game, on a muddy grass field, still wet from the pouring rains the day before. Both teams battled the winds to a scoreless tie to end the first half. Holmdel was able to get on the scoreboard first in the second half as Tom Rogan passed the ball in to Gino D’Agostino, who brought the ball down to his feet and tapped it into the goal. That was D’Agostino’s 8th goal of the year. Delran was able to equalize on a ball by Shane Doherty with ten minutes remaining. Regulation ended with a 1-1 tie and both teams moved on to two ten minute overtime periods, where no one was able to convert, and so, since a winner must be had, after 100 minutes, the game moved on to penalty kicks. “PK’s” or penalty kicks start with 5 shooters from each team taking a one on one shot on the opposing goal keeper. But, after the first 5 shots, the score remained tied, as each team had converted 3 shots. The shooting continued, one round at a time, until the tie was broken. It took until the 9th round for a winner to emerge, but Holmdel was able to prevail, as junior goalkeeper Tyler Marchiano saved Delran’s 9th shot and Holmdel’s Brendan Wall buried his ball in the net. Seniors Nicolas Zolofra and Gino D’Agostino and sophomore Brendan Wall were each able to score on both of their penalty kick opportunities and senior Menos Miras scored on one. Gino D’Agostino, also a team captain, said that “he just knew that this game would end in penalty kicks” but that this time “Holmdel was going to come out on top.”

Holmdel now advances to the Central Jersey Group II sectional semi-finals in Holmdel at 4 pm Monday at Holmdel High School. They will play Bordentown.

The Holmdel boys and girls soccer teams need you to come out and support their quest for a championship. The weather forecast for both days is good. Bleachers full of cheering fans can make the difference in a tight contest. Please come out and support our student athletes. They have each had a great season and have made their town proud.