The girls soccer team beat Toms River North High School in the South Jersey Group 4 Championship on Nov. 9
Washington Township High School girls soccer made history last week when they won their first sectional title, 2–1, in second overtime against Toms River North High School at the South Jersey Group 4 Championship on Thursday, Nov. 9. With a young team on the field and numerous injuries throughout the season, the team remained focused on their goal from the start of the season.
“They’ve been focused since day one, not just on winning this game, but going further and winning next Saturday [in the finals],” head coach Bill Alvaro said. “No matter what’s happened — the injuries, different players we’ve had coming in and out of the lineup this year — they’ve remained focused on what the goal is.”
With an 18–2–2-season record at the time, and a 7–2–2 record for the Olympic American conference, captain Breana Winder, a senior, said the team knew this year would be different.
“It’s amazing; it’s everything we’d ever want in this season,” Winder said. “From the beginning of the season we knew this would be our year and we finished it out.”
The championship match started strong for the Minutemaids when sophomore Giovanna Castorina scored the first goal off an assist from junior Milana D’Ambra in the first half.
“Once that goal went in, it brought up our positivity and our hard work,” Castorina said. “It could have gone downhill from the beginning of the game or uphill. After we scored, it really helped us out a lot.”
Toms River North brought the game to a tie with minutes to spare in the first half, which would remain the same through the entirety of the second, leading the match to overtime. It wasn’t until five minutes remained on the clock in the second overtime that junior Julianna Capano made the historic goal that would bring the Minutemaids their first state championship title.
“The whole game, I knew if any team were going to do it, these girls would do it,” assistant and JV coach Katie Sachs said. “They wanted it so bad and it was just a matter of time.”
Washington Township will move on to the NJSIAA Group 4 state semifinals against Central Jersey Group 4 champion Freehold Township on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 5 p.m. at Rowan University.
“Over the past four years, during my time here, we’ve really brought the program up from what it was before and we know it can only go up from here,” Winder said. “Our focus is playing the feet, playing together and playing with heart.”
Check back to www.washingtontownshipsun.com for results of the Nov. 14 game.
