Amazing win today in PK's. Another true TEAM effort. Rest up and get healthy! Best wishes to all the injured. That is now 9
straight overtime wins for this Boro team with 5 of them going to PK's. Boro is now unbeaten in it's last 12 overtime matches dating back to 2009. Wow!
Box Score - Click Me!
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All Shore Media Recap - Click Me or Read Below!
| Girls Soccer SCT - Cobb-Stopper: Freehold 0, RBC 0 (Freehold advances in shootout, 3-1) |
| Written by Matt Manley - Staff Writer
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NEPTUNE
- The top-seeded Freehold Borough girls soccer team entered the Shore
Conference Tournament quarterfinals against No. 8 Manalapan Monday with a
perfect 14-0 record and since as not scored a goal in 200 minutes of
soccer.
Despite the offensive drought, the Colonials will play
for their first SCT championship in five seasons thanks to the dominance
of four-year starting goalkeeper Sara Cobb.
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| Freehold goalkeeper
Sara Cobb makes the first of her three saves during the shootout round
that propelled the Colonials into the first SCT championship game since
2008. (Photo by Cliff Lavelle) | | |
Cobb made six saves in the first 100 minutes of Freehold's game against
fifth-seeded Red Bank Catholic Wednesday night at Memorial Field, then
made three consecutive saves to close out the round of penalty kicks to
help the Colonials survive their second straight shootout victory with a
3-1 win over the Caseys following a scoreless tie.
Freehold will
play No. 2 Toms River North on Saturday evening at Memorial Field as it
looks to remain unbeaten (14-0-2) on the season.
"For the last
four years, Sara Cobb has been nothing but clutch," Freehold coach Elyse
Ingui said. "Sara is the one goalie in the state who you know is always
going to make the big save, especially in penalty kicks."
This
is the second straight penalty-kicks victory for Freehold, with the
Colonials advancing past Manalapan Monday with a 4-2 edge in the
shootout, with Cobb making two saves in that one as well.
"You
have to have confidence," Cobb said. "I like that moment because I know
if I'm confident, my team is going to be confident. I don't feel the
pressure, because saving a penalty kick is a lot easier to save a
penalty kick than to make a penalty kick, so the credit goes to our
shooters for stepping up."
Red Bank Catholic senior Marina Davi
caught Cobb guessing incorrectly on the Caseys' first attempt of the
shootout and that was Cobb's lone mistake of the night. With her
teammates converting three of their four attempts in the shootout, Cobb
stopped the next three RBC attempts, the last one with a leaping stab on
a shot headed to the upper left of the goal by Christina Balacco to set
off the celebration.
"I had so much fun tonight," Cobb said. "I live for these games and moments like that. I couldn't have asked for anything more."
Cobb
saved Liz Thoreson's shot to the lower left of the net on the second
attempt by Red Bank Catholic. That stop came after RBC freshman
goalkeeper Jackie Robinson nearly saved a shot by freshman Ashley
Latona, but she deflected the ball over her and into the net. Robinson
made the save on the next attempt to get RBC even again, but Cobb again
came through by saving an attempt by Grace Correll.
Junior Cori
Ahde put Freehold up 3-1 with a well-placed shot to the upper part of
the goal. Cobb then ended the shootout with her best save on a shot
ticketed for the upper right corner by Balacco.
"It was all gut,"
Cobb said of her approach. "I've been there before and I know what to
expect, but still, I just have to go with my gut and trust my
instincts."
Cobb saved six shots and pounced on numerous other
loose balls in the box to help the Freehold defense, which was also
superb. Sophomore Lindsay Cerio and senior Delaney Boyer shut down the
middle of the field and senior Chelsi Bender and junior Christina
Stabile closed off the outside, ran with Red Bank Catholic's runners on
the flanks and made runs of their own out of the back.
"These
games take all the heart in the world," Cobb said. "Playing 100 minutes
of soccer is not easy at all. You have to be into it for every second,
because the second you let your guard down could be the second you lose
the game. The fact that we've been able to play two games like that and
come out on top says a lot about the heart of this team."
Robinson
also had a strong 100 minutes for the Caseys and came up with one save
in the shootout. She saved eight shots while helping the Caseys stave
off a 14-8 disadvantage in shots.
The Caseys had two quality
scoring opportunities during the game, the first on a header by Grace
Correll that missed the right crossbar by about a foot in the 32nd
minute. Caseys top goal-scorer Mackenzie Cowley also had a quality
chance late in the second half on a shot from 12 yards out on the right
side, but Cobb made a diving save on the shot heading toward the far
post.
Freehold last reached the SCT final in 2008, when the
Colonials lost to Red Bank Catholic, the first of three straight
championships for the Caseys. The six seniors on this year's team just
missed out on that championship run, but after putting in a full four
years, they are reaping the same rewards that the 2008 team did and will
look to take home the program's first championship since 2007.
"This
team is built on hard work," Ingui said. "Every single girl, from the
moment we started practice this summer, has been giving 100 percent and
this whole season has been a product of the work they've put in. We're
fortunate enough to still be undefeated at this point, but honestly,
that's not what our girls are thinking about. They've been focused on
each game and we're going to focus on Saturday and hopefully we can win
one more."
Box Score
Freehold 0, Red Bank Catholic 0
Freehold advances in a shootout, 3-1
|
1 |
2 |
OT |
OT |
PK |
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F |
| Red Bank Catholic (16-1-1, 12-0-0) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
- |
0 |
| Freehold (14-0-2, 12-0-0) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
- |
0 |
Penalty Kicks: (RBC) Davi; (F) Cerio, Latona, Ahde
Shots: Freehold, 14-8
Saves: (RBC) Robinson 8; (F) Cobb 6
Star Ledger Headline & Recap - Click Me or Read Below!
Shore Girls Soccer: Sara Cobb sends Freehold
Borough to the Shore Conference final with a scoreless win in PKs over
Red Bank Catholic
Red Bank Catholic’s Christina Blanco put the ball on the nine yard
line in a must score situation. She took a deep breath, a step forward,
and sent the ball towards the upper left corner of the net. Freehold
Borough’s Sara Cobb instinctively dove to the left and smacked the ball
over the crossbar to send top-seeded Freehold Borough to the Shore
Conference Finals with the scoreless victory over sixth-seeded Red Bank
Catholic.
Cobb made ten saves on the day, including a second chance opportunity
by Mackenzie Cowley that she denied with a sliding stop at the end of
regulation. Red Bank Catholic’s Jackie Robinson, a freshman, stopped
twelve shots as both keepers posted shutouts and the game was decided by
penalty kicks.
Freehold Borough (14-0-2) shot first and Lindsay Cerio beat Robinson
to the left. Red Bank Catholic’s Marina Davi sent a roller inside the
left post to tie the penalty kicks at one apiece.
Robinson nearly stopped a low drive by Ashley Latona, but the ball
bounced off her foot into the net. Coriann Ahde scored the clinching
goal top shelf that Robinson could just watch fly into the right corner
of the net.
Cobb stopped Red Bank Catholic’s final three shooters including a
diving save to the right on Liz Thoreson, a kick save on Grace Correll,
and the punch-out on Blanco that sent Freehold Borough, No.7 in The
Star-Ledger top 20, to the Shore Conference Final.
APP Game Recap - Click Me or Read Below
Cobb, Freehold shine in penalty kicks vs. RBC
10:59 PM, Oct 24, 2012 |
Red Bank Catholic's Mackenzie Cowley and Freehold Boro's Chelsi Bender battle for a first-half header. / PETER ACKERMAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
