Girls Soccer: GMC Tournament Final Scouting Report

What: GREATER MIDDLESEX COUNTY GIRLS SOCCER TOURNAMENT FINAL

When/Where: 3:30 p.m. today/Woodbridge High School

Who: No. 3 East Brunswick (12-7) vs. No. 4 South Brunswick (9-7-1)

How they got here: East Brunswick beat No. 14 Middlesex 4-2 in the first round, defeated No. 11 Metuchen 2-1 in the quarterfinals and topped No. 2 Bishop Ahr 3-0 in the semis. South Brunswick edged No. 13 Edison 1-0 in the first round, beat No. 5 Old Bridge 2-1 in OT in the quarters and topped No. 1 Monroe 1-1 (6-5 in a shootout) in the semifinals.

East Brunswick Report: There are few constants in life, but one of them is the East Brunsewick girls soccer team taking its place in the GMCT championship game. Want to trick your friends into believing you are a fortune teller? Tell them that East Brunswick will be in the GMCT championship. You get the point… East Brunswick always finds a way to win. On Thursday in the semifinals the Bears added yet another inspiring victory to the history of their program. What stands out from the semifinal game is how locked in the backline was on defense. Melissa Ciaccio and Samree Mastro had the tough task in shutting down Jillian Vassallo. East Brunswick is used to adversity. They showed it last season when they played the role of underdogs and won the GMCT title. This season the Bears have once again been able to climb out of a hole as they went through a four game losing streak in the middle of the schedule. East Brunswick is a better team because of the competition they squared off against and are now rolling on all cylinders. The defense will have to once again show up when they play their rival South Brunswick, who will have a gritty Julianna Franco.

South Brunswick Report: Forget the first 75 minutes of the game, if the Vikings had it their way they would just play the last five minutes. At least that’s the way it seems. South Brunswick has mounted a comeback in each of its last two games. If it wasn’t for some second half magic, South Brunswick would have been eliminated in the quarterfinals against Old Bridge.Julianna Franco’s speed combined with a precise shot is what allowed her to score 26 goals a year ago as well as earn the Home News Tribune Player of the Year. This season the goals have dipped a little bit, but don’t let that fool you, she is as lethal as ever. Franco had the game-winner on Tuesday because of her tremendous skill on the offensive side of the ball and she is determined to cap off a career full of countless accolades with a GMCT title. In the semifinals South Brunswick saw a full circle of events come together. The Vikings were able to upset Monroe thanks to yet another late goal from Francesca Dimitrakis and some clutch performances in the penalty kicks. It’s not bad to have Sydney Schneider in net, who outdueled Maryland-bound Erin Seppi. In a way, the defeat for Monroe is an exact image of what South Brunswick went through last season. The Vikings were equipped with 14 seniors and recently won the Red Division, but they were sent home packing when a hungry East Brunswick squad who always seems to find a way to win the GMCT championship game. This makes up for the agony last year’s team had to go through – kind of. A win over the Bears will be the icing on top of the cake.

Prediction: East Brunswick survived the first matchup of the season by escaping with a 1-0 victory. South Brunswick redeemed themselves with a late second goal to win 1-0 at home during the second meeting. This game is literally a coin flip. We will go with a 2-1 victory for East Brunswick based on their past success in the tournament.

- Steven Macri can be reached at smacri@gannettnj.com and on Twitter @StevenMacri, where he’ll be tweeting live from Saturday’s final.