Girls Soccer: South Brunswick beats top-seeded Old Bridge in GMCT quarterfinals

OLD BRIDGE – The South Brunswick High School girls soccer team isn’t used to being seeded as low as they are in this year's Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament, but that is not preventing them from making a deep postseason run.

An upset perhaps only on paper, the ninth-seeded Vikings knocked off Red Division foe and top-seeded Old Bridge in the GMC Tournament quarterfinals with a 1-0 victory on a chilly Tuesday afternoon.

The Vikings (9-5-1) will go on to face fourth-seeded Piscataway in the semifinals on Thursday at Sayreville High School.

“Nine to one, that’s what we say before every game, every practice, nine to one,” South Brunswick sophomore defender Riley Ratcliffe said. “That’s our goal. It’s what we start thinking at the beginning of the game, and that’s how we want to end, nine to one.”

The first 30 minutes of the game were relatively evenly played, but the Vikings started to separate themselves and press the Knights in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

Sophomore midfielder Cathlene Kaseta ripped a shot from the outside that was saved and deflected back into the box by Old Bridge goalkeeper Nicole Carbone with just under 10 minutes to play in the opening half. Trailing the play the entire way, Ratcliffe fired the ricocheted ball into the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead for the Vikings.

“Every play, every shot, I had to follow everything,” Ratcliffe said. “We definitely didn’t want to go into halftime at 0-0, that would have changed the second half. We knew we had to be in a better place, and I think we followed through with that.”

The Viking defense did a nice job limiting Old Bridge’s shots in the second half. The Knights came close to an equalizer about 25 minutes into the final half when Dominique Lovallo ripped a shot on an empty net, but a South Brunswick defender got her foot on the ball to deflect it harmlessly wide right.

According to South Brunswick coach Beth Barrio, it wasn’t her team’s cleanest defensive effort of the season, but what was most impressive was her team’s ability to overcome that and get stops when needed.

“I think the weather played a factor, I think everybody was a little cold, and that made a difference in their movement, so it seemed a little choppy for us in the back today,” Barrio said. “I think that they preserved, and they powered through.”

On deck for the Vikings is another familiar foe in Piscataway. The Chiefs have defeated the Vikings twice this season, but South Brunswick will look to avoid the three-peat and advance to their second GMC Tournament final in a row.

“It’s familiar so sometimes that’s a benefit and sometimes it’s not because you’re so familiar with the team,” Barrio said. “All we ask of them is to go out there and compete for 80 minutes and give everything they have.”

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