Big Win Over Long Branch Tuesday Makes It Two In a Row for Cougars

If losing to the number one team in the shore by a single goal can be considered a wake-up call, consider the Colts Neck Cougars awakened.

Since losing to top-ranked Red Bank Catholic 3-2 last week, the Cougars have won two in a row, both shut outs. The first in a 3-0 victory against Notre Dame on Saturday, and their most recent coming against Long Branch High School on Tuesday afternoon by a score of 8-0.

The Cougars got an early start on Tuesday, scoring the team’s first two goals within a mere minute-and-a-half of playing time. Captain Rachael Ivanicky initiated the offensive eruption off of an assist from Oti Laki, and shortly after, sophomore Meg Mulligan scored a goal of her own to give Colts Neck an early 2-0 lead.

Thanks to a second goal from Mulligan, then two more from junior Tori Pantaleo and Brooke Haden, respectively, the Cougars went into halftime with a 5-0 lead and a confident attitude.

“We talk about the positives, mostly about shape,” said Colts Neck head coach Doug Phillips. “We want to make sure people are in the right spots at the right times and to move the ball. We want to transition quickly and move the ball forward. We won tonight, but, as a team, we still have plenty of stuff to work on.”

After three more Colts Neck scores in the second half, the game was in the books and the Cougars were looking ahead. Starting Saturday, they have a schedule consisting of three games in four days, the first of which comes against Ocean Township, who currently sits at 2-3, but the perhaps the most important of which comes on Monday against B-North rival Freehold Borough.

“We’ll probably go pretty hard tomorrow and take a light day on Thursday before a pretty intense practice on Friday,” said Phillips. “This is a good group. I don’t have much of a problem getting them up for games. It’s more of a matter of passing the time and trying to have some productive practices.”