Girls Soccer: East Brunswick tops South Brunswick to clinch GMC Tournament championship

WOODBRIDGE – After losing last year’s Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final in the last minutes to South Brunswick, the East Brunswick High School girls soccer team wasted no time reclaiming the county title from its Red Division rivals on Saturday.

On the strength of two goals from junior Sabria Glasgow, the second-seeded Bears scored twice in the first half and went on to defeat ninth-seeded South Brunswick 2-0 to clinch the GMC Tournament title after falling 1-0 in the final six minutes to the Vikings a season ago.

The Bears have now won 12 of the last 14 GMC Tournament finals.

“None of the past ghosts of East Brunswick are going to jump on the field and play for you, so you have to make those unforgettable moments happen yourself, and I thought you saw that from the opening whistle today,” East Brunswick coach Kevin Brady said. “We’ve been talking about those six minutes all year, getting a chance to replay those six minutes, and I think you saw that come out with a ton of passion."

With the memory of last year’s last minute heartbreak fresh in their minds, the Bears came roaring out of the gates and took a 1-0 lead within the first minute and a half of play when Glasgow beat two defenders and scored on an one-on-one opportunity against South Brunswick goalkeeper Sydney Schneider.

“Getting that goal and getting on the board, that gets them rattled and it makes them go back on their heels,” Glasgow said. “That’s what we wanted, we wanted to get them frustrated. We had the energy, and we were going at them.”

The Bears kept the pressure on the Vikings defense, maintaining possession for almost the entire first half. With about 15 minutes left to play in the first half, junior Victoria Constantin flew down the right wing and crossed the ball to a streaking Glasgow who scored in the box to push the East Brunswick advantage to 2-0.

The Bears’ offense continued to control the pace in the second half as they cruised to victory

“Controlling the pace was one of the most important things because they’re a good team and having them have the ball is a threat,” Glasgow said. “The defense did a great job of getting the ball out, the mids did a great job getting the ball out. We didn’t want the ball on our half all game.”

Defensively, the Bears limited the Vikings’ shots on goal and made life easy for goalkeeper Lauren Krinsky. A patchwork unit consisting of only one starter from last year’s team, the backline, led by center back Bianca Nakar, dominated.

In their four tournament games, the Bears did not concede a single goal.

“I don’t think I can put into words how well they’ve assumed their roles this year,” Brady said. “I thought Bianca was a key player today. We really needed that defensive effort today.”

Staff Writer Daniel LoGiudice can be reached at dlogiudice@gannettnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @danny_logiudice.