Two More Wins For Holmdel High School Soccer

Photo: Holmdel High School Junior Gabby Bair as starting forward for the girl’s varsity soccer team.

When the Holmdel Varsity Girls Soccer team started this season with only four returning starters: Gabby Bair, Helen Burleigh, Hannah Lee, and Casey Matthijs, outsiders may have thought that this team would struggle. Clearly this is not the case, as the girls pick up their fourth win in a 3-1 contest over Manasquan.

Holmdel dominated play in the first 40 minutes and came out of the half with a 1-0 lead on a goal by junior forward Gabby Bair from a pass from junior midfielder Rebecca Stanziale. Holmdel continued its strong play in the second half and added what would be the winning score on a pass from senior midfielder Jaime Roth to junior forward Hannah Lee. Manasquan was not ready to surrender that easily and mounted an offensive challenge getting on the scoreboard with a goal by Courtney Hagaman on a pass from Aubrey Jones. Manasquan was starting to pick up some momentum but luckily for the Hornets, that was quickly put to rest with an insurance goal. Bair had a perfect corner kick right in front of Manasquan’s net that was converted into a score by Holmdel’s junior midfielder Lauren Haverlin, giving the Hornets a 3-1 win. Holmdel goalkeeper Helen Burleigh had 4 saves on the day.

The girls now 4-0 (4-0) next take on a strong opponent in Rumson Fair Haven at 10:30 a.m. in Rumson. This is an important game for the girls varsity as they take on a highly ranked RFH team. Please come on out and support the girls.

While the girls were warming up for their home game, the boys varsity traveled to the Sea Girt armory fields to take on Manasquan. They were able to improve their record to 4-2 (4-0) on a 2-0 win over the Warriors.

The Hornets scored their first goal in the 20th minute when sophomore forward Brendan Wall took a direct kick that was put into the net by junior Rohan Gandhi, for his first goal of the year. Wall added an insurance goal to give the Hornets a decisive win in a game that was controlled by Holmdel. Junior goalkeeper Michael Carannante earned the shutout.

The Holmdel boys get to play at home on Saturday against Rumson Fair Haven at 12:30. Rumson Fair Haven and Holmdel tied as Class A Central champions last season.

The game schedule for Saturday allows for attendance at both the girls and boys games. I will see you there.