By Jim Hintelmann
RED BANK – It looked as if it would be a routine 2-0 Red Bank Catholic girls soccer victory over Bishop Eustace (Pennsauken) in Tuesday’s New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public A South semifinal game.
However, things became a bit uncomfortable in the final minutes for the Caseys before they nailed down a 2-1 victory.
With 4:30 remaining, Bishop Eustace’s Gianna Morrone lofted a high shot from 25 yards out that just eluded the outstretched hands of RBC goalie Jackie Robinson. The shot went into the net making it a one-goal game.
The Crusaders had several other good scoring opportunities in the remaining minutes, but Robinson turned them away.
RBC’s win put the Caseys into the sectional finals where it will meet Holy Cross (Delran) at Eastern High School. Holy Cross, the second seed, edged St. Rose 2-1 Tuesday.
“I haven’t seen Holy Cross, but I’ll get a scouting report on them soon,” Caseys coach Frank Lawrence said. “It doesn’t matter who we are playing, however, as long as we are still playing.”
“I don’t think we had a letdown,” Lawrence said. “Bishop Eustace is a good team and good teams don’t give up. They put a lot of pressure on us, but we held on. We haven’t had an easy game all season.”
Following a scoreless first half, RBC finally scored when Olivia Lucia took a pass from Christina Balacco near midfield, got a step on a Bishop Eustace defender and kicked it in for her fifth goal of the season.
“Christina just passed the ball to me in the box and I just finished it off,” Lucia said.
RBC got what proved to be the winning goal at 21 minutes when Emily Holtz scored on a direct kick from 20 yards away.
RBC had a 15-6 advantage in shots.
PHOTO BY SEAN SIMMONS
