By Jim Hintelmann
MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP – Although losing, 5-1 to Middletown South in only its second varsity game, Trinity Hall soccer coach Ken Santos saw a lot of promising things for the new all-girls high school, which does not yet have a senior class.
“We’re young, but don’t have the experience” said Santos, who is also the school’s athletic director, “but we are way ahead of what I expected right now. We lost to Middletown North, 5-0 in our first game, but it was scoreless after the first half.
“We were losing only 2-1 in the second half tonight, but we got tired,” he said. ”Right now we don’t have the experience to maintain a high level for the full 80 minutes. South has a great passing team but we hung with them and gave a great effort tonight.”
South scored quickly when Nicole Scalzo took a feed from Haley Dalonzo and kicked the ball in from about 25 yards away three minutes into the game. It almost scored again a few minutes later but a clear shot by Amanda Glynn bounced off the left post.
The Monarchs had a couple of good scoring chances, but South goalie Taelor Rivera made several good stops.
“We’re 3-0 right now,” said South coach Meghan McDermott. “We’ve gotten better since our first scrimmages. We’ve improved a lot in our passing and goal-scoring and our defense is solid.”
South made it 2-0 early in the second half when Dalonzo knocked in the ball from right in front of the net, but Trinity Hall finally had its big moment at 30 minutes when it scored its first varsity goal.
Junior Kara McDermott (no relation to South’s coach) took a corner kick from Kelsey O’Kelly and knocked it following a scramble.
“The ball was in front of me and I just kicked it in,” said McDermott, who also plays lacrosse and was happy to be the first player to score a varsity goal in the school’s brief history. “This is the first time I ever played forward.”
South, however, finally pulled away later in the second half on goals by Glynn, Dalonzo and Scalzo.
Rivera had three saves for South while Trinity Hall goalie Brianne Dwyer had 13 saves, including several outstanding stops.
Santos believes that the future is bright for Trinity Hall, starting its third year, with a current enrollment of 110.
“We’ve added 33 freshmen this year, but things are looking great,” said Santos. “Some of these girls have never played soccer before, but we convinced them to be a part of a high school team.
“We have 12 varsity sports right now,” he said. “We made
an application to join the
Shore Conference and hope to be admitted next year.”
The Monarchs are playing a strong schedule this year.
“We have 17 varsity and 12 junior varsity games Santos. “Some of the schools that we are playing are Red Bank Regional, Rumson, North Brunswick and Long Branch.”
