SPORTS

South Brunswick girls soccer overcomes early deficit, advances in GMCT

Steven Macri
@StevenMacri

MONMOUTH JUNCTION Throughout the course of the season, South Brunswick girls soccer coach Beth Barrio has been planting a message into the heads of her players. The message is simple, but can be a grueling task for a young team as she told her group of girls to play for each other.

On Tuesday afternoon in a Greater Middlesex County Tournament quarterfinal match against fifth-seeded Old Bridge, that message was clearly understood, as the fourth-seeded Vikings came together to squeeze past the Knights 2-1 in overtime and advance to the semifinals.

The script couldn’t have been written better for South Brunswick. With the game tied 1-1, the Vikings were able to get the ball to their star player with room to work. Senior Julianna Franco received a pass from Brielle Eder, and once she got past the backline she was able to power one past the Old Bridge goalkeeper with 2:48 remaining in overtime.

Franco was greeted by her ecstatic teammates. It was only right for the heart and soul of the South Brunswick program to score during her final GMC Tournament.

“I wanted to be there because Brielle played the ball and I needed to get there as quick as possible. I wanted to take advantage of the space and the gaps,” Franco said. “Coach said at halftime, ‘Seniors, this is your last season, if you don’t get this right now then you’re out. This is your last county tournament.’ It definitely was very important getting that in the back of the net.”

The two sides met twice during the regular season, splitting the series. Franco has found success against Old Bridge, of her eight goals this season, four of them has been against the Knights.

Old Bridge controlled possession throughout a majority of the contest. It was able to strike first when Marissa Scognamiglio headed a pass from Tara Durstewitz into the back of the net.

A halftime speech allowed Barrio’s group to settle down and return to their style of play.

“We talked about how Old Bridge had the better of the play,” Barrio said. “We had a lot of pockets of weakness that seemed to be going. We felt like there were a lot of different things that were unusual. We had to put Old Bridge’s play in the back of our mind and move forward as a unit.”

With the minutes ticking down and South Brunswick facing elimination, a Hail Mary of a shot allowed the Vikings to grab hold of momentum. Moriya Frankel was able to turn the tables when she scored from 40 yards out during the 75th minute. The Vikings began to apply more pressure and create better chances.

“It gets the momentum going,” Frankel said about her goal. “That goal got the wheels going because we knew we were back in it.”

Sydney Schneider, who finished with 18 saves, put South Brunswick in a spot to come back and win. Without the junior keeper, the Vikings could have been looking at a broader deficit.

“Sydney is amazing,” Barrio said. “She is a literally a brick wall. Sydney is a game time goalkeeper. She steps up to the level of play and when the game intensifies she seems to intensify. She made some saves there that I don’t know how many people could’ve made. Without her back there I’m not sure if we would have had a shot to tie the game up.”

South Brunswick will face top-seeded Monroe in the semifinals on Thursday. After a year of ups-and-downs in a tough Red Division, the Vikings are finally starting to piece together the proper equation for success.

“It was getting the chemistry up,” Frankel said about what got the Vikings to this point. “It’s coming to practice and working hard for each other. Coach always tells us, ‘You are not doing it for me, you are doing it for each other.’ I think keeping each other going is a huge motivator.”

Staff Writer Steven Macri: smacri@njpressmedia.com