Schools

Girls' Soccer Wins Group 2 Crown

The 3-0 win was payback for a championship lose last year to Middle Township.

You could call it a revenge game.

The Haddonfield Memorial High School girls' soccer team remembered what if felt like to lose the South Jersey Group 2 title last year at Middle Township. They wanted a happier ending this year.

"After last year, we all knew this was the game we were wishing for," said Katie Johnson, a senior midfielder who scored two of Haddonfield's three goals Thursday in a 3-0 dismantling of a young Middle Township team. "We wanted it to be Middle Township. We wanted to be home. We wanted it to be in front of our fans and we really wanted a win. And we got it."

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Johnson paced the top-seeded Bulldawgs with two second-half goals on the way to a commanding win over the visiting No. 2-seed Panthers. Haddonfield moves on to play other Group 2 champion from around the state in the NJISAA tournament next week.

But the Bulldawgs weren't ready to look ahead just yet. They wanted to savor the moment Thursday.

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"We waited 365 days for this game," Haddonfield coach Glenn Gess said. "We lost a tough one on penalty kicks last year. We don't root for anyone, but when we saw it was middle, it was a little extra edge for us."

The Bulldawgs wasted no time establishing control of the game. They scored in the second minute of play. Emily Carson cashed in on a header from Laurel Falana that bounced into the goal mouth.

"I really thought it was in when I shot it," said Falana, whose dad coached the Bulldawgs boys soccer team to a win over Middle Township on Tuesday. "It was like perfect to my head, toward the goal, and Emily followed it up."

"It was just like we practiced," Carson said.

It was also the game plan.

"We knew they had a long bus ride here and we thought we could catch them on their heals and we did," Johnson said.

It turned out to be the game-winner. But Johnson, who dominated play in the middle of the field, added two insurance goals in 45th and the 75th minute of play. She leads the team with 26 goals this year.

"I was making a run for the middle; she laid it off for me; I took one touch, lined up my shot and shot it as hard as I could," Johnson said, detailing the first goal.

Panthers coach Bob Wishart said it was no secret how good Haddonfield is.

"We want to find out what they're putting in your water up here because they've got some huge kids," said the Cape May County coach. "Everyone in South Jersey knows how good they are on set pieces. They got that first one early on us. They were real good in the box."

"They were the best team we've seen all year," he said.


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