OCHS Roundup: Soccer, Field Hockey and Tennis

You can’t blame the Ocean City High School girls' soccer team for being a bit tired.

The Red Raiders played four games last week, including two that went into overtime. They were also scheduled for four more matches this week.

That’s a lot of soccer, but at least they are battle-tested.

“It can help you in that sense,” Ocean City coach Bill Pesda said. “It can also wear you down. We played four games and two went to overtime. That’s almost another half of a game. Sometimes it can toughen up a team to play in tight moments.”

The Red Raiders bounced back from a 2-1 overtime loss to tie Mainland, 1-1, also in overtime. Ocean City’s Megan Devlin scored on a penalty kick to tie the game. Ocean City keeper Lauren Freas made eight saves.

Ocean City lost to Shawnee 2-0 on Sept. 26, but bounced back to tie a quality Hammonton squad, 1-1, on Sept. 27. Carissa Borbeau scored the Red Raiders’ goal, and Freas made a dozen stops.

Ocean City takes on EHT again on Sept. 30 and Rancocas Valley on Oct. 1.

“The schedule just keeps coming,” Pesda said. “We are a Group III school and we mostly play Group IV schools. The way the state does power points, it helps us. It doesn’t make our record look good, but we were 4-6 last year (at the cutoff date) and we still hosted a playoff game in the first round. We are still trying to win some big games along the way.

The Red Raiders are 2-4-2, and haven’t won since Sept. 17, but they are playing solid defensive soccer. Ocean City has yet to allow more than two goals in any game.

“We play a tough schedule, and we are a defensive team that hopes to score goals sometimes,” Pesda said with a laugh. “That’s what we are. We are pretty good defensively.”

Freshmen Ashley Edgell has shown some strong offensive skills, scoring three of the Red Raiders’ goals this season.

FIELD HOCKEY STILL PERFECT

The Red Raiders field hockey team is 7-0, and has yet to be really challenged.

The Blue Devils have come the closest. Ocean City took a 3-0 lead at the half, and beat the Blue Devils, 4-2. It was the first time this year the Red Raiders didn’t score at least five goals.

Liz Cruz scored twice, and Shannon Lawson and Ali Stever added goals in the win.

Ocean City also blasted through two of the schools in the Greater Egg Harbor school district, routing Absegami, 10-0 and Oakcrest, 5-0.

The Red Raiders scored four goals in the first 3 minutes, 25 seconds of their win over the Braves. Ocean City had nine different goal scorers in the game with Liz Cruz scoring twice. Roisin Dougherty made five saves.

Jacquie Fenton scored twice in the win over the Falcons.

BOYS' SOCCER BACK ON TRACK

The boys soccer team put a three-game losing streak behind them with two straight wins, topping rival Mainland, 3-0 on Sept. 23 and beating Hammonton, 3-1, on Sept. 27.

Brendan MacFarlane scored twice against the Mustangs, and Kieran Keyser made seven stops in net to earn the shutout. Connor Hart also scored in the win.

MacFarlane, Derrick Brewer and Zack Sakena scored against the Blue Devils. Keyser made five saves.

Ocean City hosts EHT on Friday and Haddonfield on Saturday.

GIRLS' TENNIS MATCH INTERRUPTED

Ocean City’s Leah Kornberg and Lauren Loggi made it to the Cape-Atlantic League Tennis Championship finals.

The Red Raiders’ top doubles team faced off against Holy Spirit’s Dana DiStefano and Katie Kresz on Sept. 27 at Vineland High School, but the match had to be postponed because of darkness.

The Spartans dup won the first set, 6-4, and are leading the second set, 3-2. A make-up date has yet to be scheduled.