Freehold Borough - 1
Mon, Oct. 27, 2014, 3:00 p.m. - Freehold Borough (Freehold NJ)
(Star Ledger) Ashley Latona scored one goal for Freehold
Borough, assisted by Kaleigh Rudic, as it defeated Rumson-Fair Haven,
1-0, in the quarterfinal round of the Passaic County Tournament in
Freehold. Jordan Cerio finished with eight saves. Samantha Beaudreault registered six saves for Rumson-Fair Haven.
Box Score - Click Me!
Girls Soccer – Latona’s Late Strike
Lifts Freehold in SCT
By Matt Manley October 27, 2014 8:23 PM
FREEHOLD
BOROUGH – Despite hearing the pleas from
teammates and coaches – directed in the general direction of anyone on the
field wearing a Freehold Borough soccer jersey – to shoot the ball in a
scoreless game in the second half Monday, Freehold junior Ashley Latona
preferred to keep the ball moving a wait for the right opportunity.
In the 76th
minute, Latona got the right opportunity and hit a shot that was right on the
money.
Ashley Latona celebrates her
go-ahead goal with Kaleigh Rudic (9). (Photo by Matt Manley)
Latona
buried a 30-yard shot from straight on to the upper right corner of the net
with a little more than four minutes left and the second-seeded Colonials hung
on to beat No. 10 Rumson Monday in the Shore Conference Tournament
quarterfinals.
Freehold
will play No. 3 Wall on Wednesday night at 5 p.m., the third straight semifinal
appearance for the Colonials.
“I’m the
type of player that would rather give the ball to an open teammate to get a
shot, but I also knew how much time was left and we needed to start getting
shots at the goal,” Latona said. “There were probably other times I could have
shot the ball but I just didn’t think it was the right opportunity.”
Although
they failed to score for the first 75 minutes of the game, the Colonials
managed to fire up nine shots, four of which were on goal. Aside from Rumson
surges at the end of each half, Freehold controlled the ball in the Rumson end
of the field for the majority of play, but the nine shots that resulted prior
to the goal were not enough to break the scoreless tie.
“It’s a constant
reminder for our girls that they have to get shots up,” Freehold coach Elyse
Ingui said. “Yeah, it’s great that we’re moving the ball and possessing it, but
at some point, we have to try to score and fortunately, with five minutes left
in the game, Ashley looked for a shot and hit a good one.”
That changed
in the 76th, when sophomore Kaleigh Rudic slid a pass over to Latona following
a throw-in. Latona took two touches to her right and with a clear look at the
goal from 30 yards out, the junior unleashed a right-footed blast that
Rumson-Fair Haven goalkeeper Samantha Beaudreault could only watch tuck inside
the right corner of the goal frame.
“I’ve made
that shot before in a game situation,” Latona said. “That one might have been
from a little farther out and obviously, this game made it more important.”
Rumson-Fair
Haven senior forward Janie DeVito had two chances to tie the game in the final
three minutes, but Freehold sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Cerio saved a
one-on-one chance and DeVito missed just wide of the far right post on the
second try.
“They were
able to put a lot of pressure on us for a couple stretches in the game and it
resulted in a couple of really good chances,” Ingui said. “For any team, for
any defense, you have to have confidence that your keeper is going to come up
big when you need it and we have total confidence in Jordan. She is very good
in those one-v.-one situations because she waits back, she doesn’t jump and she
lets the shooter commit to the shot before she reacts.”
Cerio also
denied DeVito twice in the first half, the first on another one-on-one chance
and the other with a save on a 25-yard shot that Cerio batted off the crossbar.
Rumson had two shots right after that crossbar save, but senior Lindsay Cerio
covered for her sister and cleared the ball off the goal-line before the next
shot by freshman Sofi Giglio sailed wide of the right post.
“I get
excited whenever I see that I’m going to get a chance to make a save,” Cerio
said. “With our defense, I don’t usually have to make a whole lot, but the key
is just to stay ready. (Rumson) has dangerous players and they were able to get
some good shots, so I had to stay on my toes.”
Freehold
forced Beaudreault to make four saves to preserve shutout for as long as she
did and the Colonials nearly took an early lead on a goal that was disallowed
because of an offside call.
While
playing against a Rumson team befallen by a string of injuries, Freehold has
adjusted to significant injuries. The Colonials continue to play without senior
standouts Sophia Duffy and SaraGrace Johnson, and are slowly getting used to
life without two mainstays to the lineup.
“Depending
on how you look at it, we’re down three starting players right now and with
those two in particular, that is significant,” Ingui said. “It’s forced our
players to find different niches and as a whole, we’ve had to do things a
little differently.”
“I think we
definitely just got closer because of (the injuries),” Cerio said. “We couldn’t
give up. We had to figure out how to work around and that challenge has made us
grow closer as a team.”
Wednesday
night in Neptune, Freehold will renew its rivalry with Wall, a Shore Conference
Class B North rival over the last two seasons and a regular contender for the
Central Jersey Group III title. Freehold now resides in Class A North and is
also a Group IV school now, but the Colonials expect the reunion with the
Crimson Knights to have the same old feeling.
“We can’t
get away from them,” Ingui joked. “They are still rivals. It was nice to get away
from playing them in B North this year and hopefully it will just be a good,
competitive game of soccer.”
Box Score
Box Score
Freehold
1, Rumson-Fair Haven 0
1
|
2
|
F
|
|
Rumson-Fair Haven (14-5)
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Freehold (14-2-2)
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Goals
(Assists): Latona (Rudic) 76’
Shots: Freehold, 10-9
Saves: (RFH) Beaudreault 4; (F) Cerio 6
Shots: Freehold, 10-9
Saves: (RFH) Beaudreault 4; (F) Cerio 6
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