Scotch Plains-Fanwood girls soccer tops Monroe 4-0

MONROE TWP. - On the first brisk day of fall, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School girls soccer team brought the heat against Monroe.

The Lady Raiders’ scorching offense scored three first half goals, as they remained undefeated with a 4-0 shutout over the Falcons (1-4-1).

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After tying Hunterdon Central 1-1 in a Top 10 showdown last week, Scotch-Plains Fanwood (5-0-2) got back to its winning ways with a dominant performance where both sides of the ball played exceptional.

“We’re starting to play a lot better,” Scotch Plains-Fanwood coach Kevin Ewing said. “We just played the style of play that we like to play, which is possession and getting a lot of people in the box. That’s what the girls did today.”

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Senior Christina Rodgers netted the first goal of the match as she rocketed one in from the corner of the box with 23:11 remaining in the first half. Less than a minute later, the Lady Raiders saw the back of the net again as junior Kerrie McNeely scored off of an assist by Rodgers.

Danielle Mrozek would score in the 37th minute after Lizzie Lay crossed it perfectly in front of the net, giving the Lady Raiders a commanding 3-0 lead at the half.

In the first minute of the second half, McNeely scored her sixth goal of the season.

"It was right off the bat from the second half,” recalled McNeely. “We got the ball moving forward really well, Christina (Rodgers) passed it to me, I settled and it went right in the top-right corner of the goal.”

McNeely finished the contest with two goals while Rodgers tallied one goal and two assists.

Four-year varsity goalkeeper Andrea Leitner has had an outstanding start to the season, as she racked up 29 saves heading into Saturday's matchup. Against the Falcons, Leitner wasn’t need to be at her best as the defense in front of her was stout all day. Leitner finished the contest with three saves.

On the opposite side of the pitch, Monroe freshman goalkeeper Emma Bodmer was busy throughout the match as she saved nine shots.

The Falcons entered Saturday’s contest feeling confident about their play as the team earned its first win of the season on Monday with a 2-0 victory over J.P. Stevens. On Thursday, Monroe faced off another Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division foe as its forced a scoreless draw against Piscataway.

With two impressive back-to-back performances, the Falcons looked to continue their solid play on Saturday but the Lady Raiders' offense was too much to handle for the young team.

For McNeely and the rest of the Monroe squad, the camaraderie between players is what gives this team a chance to win each time it steps out onto the pitch.

“We’ve been spending a lot of time together, so we’ve created good team chemistry,” McNeely said. “On and off the field we got too know each other better and that’s essentially how we are able to play well against tough teams."