SPORTS

South Brunswick's Beth Barrio is HNT All-Area Girls Soccer Coach of the Year

Daniel LoGiudice
@danny_logiudice
South Brunswick's Beth Barrio.

Starting the season with a 2-3 record and entering the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament as the ninth seed isn’t exactly the typical recipe for success. South Brunswick coach Beth Barrio, however, helped lead her team and defy the odds.

Under Barrio’s leadership, the Vikings went 8-4-1 over their final 13 games and cruised through the GMC Tournament all the way to the championship game for the second year in a row, where they fell to East Brunswick.

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With a disappointed team on her hands, Barrio rallied her girls and led them on a playoff run.

“The girls aspired for more this season and when that didn’t come to fruition, they were disappointed, but they understood why they got the ninth seed,” Barrio said after clinching the GMC Tournament final berth. “They wanted to move forward and treat this like a new beginning and a new chance to be somebody new and the team they wanted to be this season. They embraced that.”

The ninth-seeded Vikings were faced with a tough test early in the GMC Tournament with a matchup against top-seeded Old Bridge. Led by Riley Ratcliffe’s first half goal, the Vikings advanced to the semifinals with a 1-0 victory.

The only thing standing between South Brunswick and a second consecutive GMC Tournament final berth was fourth-seeded Piscataway. Goals by Adrianna Mouzakis and Maddie Butler gave the Vikings a 2-0 victory.

After the rough start, it was Barrio who helped implement a “new season” mentality. She gave a ton of credit to her girls, but Barrio’s leadership kept the team from allowing the tough start to get to them.

“The girls aspired for more this season and when that didn’t come to fruition, they were disappointed, but they understood why they got the ninth seed,” Barrio said after the Piscataway game. “They wanted to move forward and treat this like a new beginning and a new chance to be somebody new and the team they wanted to be this season. They embraced that.”

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