Ocean County College Women's Soccer Team Takes 5th In National Championship Tourney

Katie Bellardino scored two goals, including the eventual game-winner in the 15th minute, and assisted on another as the Ocean County College women’s soccer team defeated Anne Arundel College of Maryland for fifth place Sunday in the NJCAA Division III national championship tournament.

The Vikings (17-3) also got goals from Jacki Wolf, Courtney Beals and leading scorer Melissa Fichtner en route to the victory in Toms River. Ocean County College was the host for the tournament, which opened Thursday and concluded Sunday with Brookdale Community College defeating Richland College of Texas, 1-0 in overtime in the championship game.

OCC advanced to the national tournament by winning its Region XIX district title, beating Rowan College of Gloucester 5-0, according to njcaa.org.

In the first round of the national tournament, however, OCC was knocked into the consolation bracket after taking Richland College to overtime. The game was settled in a shootout, with Richland advancing thanks to a 5-4 goals advantage in the shootout.

The Vikings bounced back to beat Genessee College of New York, 2-1, to advance to the fifth-place game.

OCC’s only losses during the season came to Monroe College of New York, and to Brookdale in a double-overtime game in late September.

On Sunday, the Vikings got on the board when Wolf headed in a cross from Hailey Neluna in the 10th minute. Less than five minutes later, Bellardino got her first goal when she took a pass from Wolf and drilled a shot from 20 yards out that dipped under the crossbar to make it 2-0. Less than a minute later, Beals tucked home a shot by Mackenzie Kleinkauf that appeared to be going wide, and the rout was on.

OCC scored in the 63rd minute when Fichtner put one in off a pass from Bellardino, then Bellardino closed out the scoring for OCC with about five minutes remaining in the game, putting home a pass from Neluna.

OCC received the tournament’s Sportsmanship Award, and had two players -- sophomore defender Marykate Sullivan and freshman midfielder Melissa Fichtner -- named to the all-tournament team.

The members of the 2014 OCC Vikings women’s soccer team are: Courtney Beals, Katie Bellardino, Maeve Burg, Ariel Donza, Melissa Fichtner, Brittany Hayes, Rebecca Kirchgessner, Mackenzie Kleinkauf, Brittany Mangiafico, Justine Mangiafico, Ashley Napoli, Hailey Neluna, Ashley Pfeil, Brittany Saez, Morgan Sartori, Marykate Sullivan, Ashlynn Waldhelm, Jacki Wolf. Head Coach: A.J. Trump. Assistant Coaches: Tracy Cole, Alyssa Morris. Athletic Trainer: Scott Royer