Boys Soccer: SCT Final Scouting Report
What: SOMERSET COUNTY TOURNAMENT GIRLS SOCCER FINAL
When/Where: 3 p.m. today/Nap Torpey Athletic Complex, Bridgewater
Who: No. 1 seed The Pingry School (12-3-2) vs. No. 3 Montgomery (12-1-2)
How they got here: Pingry defeated No. 8 Ridge 2-0 in the quarterfinals and No. 5 Bernards 2-0 in the semifinals. Montgomery beat No. 11 Hillsborough 5-0 in the quarterfinals and No. 2 Gill St. Bernard’s 4-0 in the semis.
Pingry Report: The defending champion Big Blue enters today’s final having won seven of its last eight games, all of them shutouts. In those seven games Pingry has outscored opponents 12-0, averaging about two goals per game. Today won’t be the first time these two teams face each other. Pingry defeated Montgomery 2-1 back on Sept. 12 in double overtime, which could mean this game is going to be close, tight and possibly longer than 80 minutes. The Big Blue has a strong, balanced offense with 12 players who have scored at least one goal this season. Henry Kraham leads the team with six goals and Jack DeLaney has five goals and five assists. Look for Pingry to use it’s athleticism and accuracy on the field to try and take advantage of any mistake Montgomery might make. It has the ability to strike early and then sit back and rely on its tough defense in order to win its second consecutive SCT title.
Montgomery Report: The Cougars haven’t lost a game since the loss to Pingry, the lone blemish on the season. Since then Montgomery has won 13 in a row and have outscored opponents 43-7 with seven shutouts. In the last three games the Cougars have allowed only one goal while the offense has connected for 15 goals, including a 4-0 drubbing of last year’s finalist and No. 2 seed Gill St. Bernard’s in the semifinals. Rory Kemmerer leads the team with 17 goals while Joey LaVake is right behind him with 14. David Goldman leads the team with eight assists as the Cougars have a balanced scoring attack (four different players scored against Gill) and a defense capable of giving opponents fits. Kemmerer struck for the lone goal against Pingry back on Sept. 12, and even though that game was more than a month ago, Montgomery will try and use every facet of knowledge gleaned from that game today in order to defeat the defending champion.
Prediction: This game could honestly go either way, but Montgomery could have the edge on momentum. 1-0 Montgomery.
- Lauren Knego can be reached at lknego@gannettnj.com and on Twitter @laurenknego, where she’ll be tweeting live from today’s SCT final.