High School Soccer:
Cherry Hill East Girls Edge Brick In OT Shootout

Thursday, November 5, 1998

By Forrest Robleto
SJSports Staff Writer

On a crisp autumn afternoon in State Tournament play for Group 4, the teams were as even as they could be through 100 minutes of play. Cherry Hill East's Cougars needed all of regulation, two 10 minute overtimes and three out of five shootout points to best the Brick Twp. Dragons 3-2.

The Cougars had the better part of the play for about the first ten minutes with some shots that tested Jen Mac Donald, but came up empty handed. The play then turned around and for the next fifteen minutes it was all Brick. Cherry Hill East's Carolyn Snyder handled the ball a few times but was not severely tested. As play continued it was fairly even for both teams and the score at the end of the first half was, not surprisingly, tied at zero. The shots were an equally identical 4-4.

With about twenty minutes left in the half, the Dragons managed to get a scramble in front of the Cougars' net that could have been dangerous but did not result in a hard shot. This was repeated several times and it looked like this would eventually result in a goal for Brick but it did not. Nancy Dwyer did a nice job at bringing the ball up for Cherry Hill. Two Dragons tried to stop her but she slipped by them. Two more defenders tried to stop her but it resulted in a whistle and a direct shot for Cherry Hill. The Dragons' Cheryl Wroblewski made another very hard shot that appeared to have Snyder beat, but with a beautiful dive, she managed to get the tips of her fingers on the ball and deflect it just wide.

The overtime periods were back and forth with neither team getting anything significant on goal. The defense for both teams was outstanding (witness 100 minutes scoreless) with particularly good play by Jen Padlo and Erin Monahan.

In the overtime shootout, Marisa Kravitz failed to score and Brick was able to go out in front one to nothing. Jen Padlo did score to tie it but Brick came back two to one. Laura Pursell tied it and Snyder managed to stop the next Dragon's attempt. Jessie Naumann put in the eventual game winner to make it three to two.

Photos by Forrest Robleto