East Brunswick girls soccer tops South Brunswick in OT
SOUTH BRUNSWICK – With a 1-1 stalemate leading the game into overtime, the East Brunswick High School girls soccer team wasted no time scoring the game-winner and extending its undefeated streak in extra time.
Less than two minutes into the first overtime, senior Andrea Apostolescu scored the game-winning goal to lead the Bears (5-0) to a 2-1 victory over Red Division rival South Brunswick (2-3) on Tuesday afternoon.
Apostolescu scored off a deflection after Victoria Constantin, who received the ball off a headed pass from Sabria Glasgow, had her point blank shot deflected back into the box by South Brunswick goalkeeper Sydney Schneider.
“Their goalkeeper made a nice save, but I was lucky enough to finish at the end,” Apostolescu said. “We stayed confidant the entire game. We knew if we played our hearts out, then we’d be able to get the win in the end.”
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South Brunswick defender Samantha Rivera did a brilliant job of marking Glasgow all game, keeping the Bears’ leading scoring off the scoreboard. Even with the suppressing defense of Rivera, Glasgow was still able to get a foot on the ball to lead to the game-winner.
“(Rivera) is an excellent defender and was really able to keep good position and check Sabria’s runs,” East Brunswick coach Kevin Brady said. “Sabria kept working through it. When you’re man marked, you have to do a lot more work off the ball to present yourself to the ball. She stayed positive, kept moving and was the player who kept the ball alive in the box.”
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The East Brunswick offensive attack was unrelenting in the second half, but Schneider, who injured her knee earlier in the game, made save after save. The Bears took three repetitive shots on goal halfway through the second half, but Schneider kept the ball out of the net each time.
“Sydney is a game day goalkeeper, she rises to the occasion whenever we need her,” South Brunswick coach Beth Barrio said. “When we need her the most, she steps up the most. It’s as if as things get more intense, so does she.”
Trailing 1-0 with seconds left to play in the first half, the Bears scored an equalizer when Gina Morrison found the back of the net off a pass from Katrina Nguyen-Demary.
“I think that’s the first time we’ve been down one this year, and to react like that is a great lesson for them,” Brady said. “You can tell them to always believe, but you need to do it once on the field to be able to nod and say we can step back when we take a punch.”
South Brunswick scored first with 9:32 left in the first half when Francesca Dimitrakis found a streaking Adrianna Mouzakis for a goal.
Staff Writer Daniel LoGiudice can be reached at dlogiudice@gannettnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @danny_logiudice.