Girls' Soccer Advances in S.J. Coaches Tournament

The Haddonfield girl’s soccer team pulled out a 2-1 overtime victory against visiting Absegami on Friday in a thrilling quarterfinal match of the South Jersey Coaches Tournament.

Freshman midfielder Carly Bonnet scored the game-winning goal off a long throw six minutes into the first overtime to end the game.

“Carly was unbelievable today,” said Bulldawgs coach Glenn Gess. “Not only did she get that goal, but she was responsible for marking their best player.”

Absegami’s best player would be senior forward Erica Skroski. Skroski came into the game with 12 goals and eight assists on the year, and would collect her 13th score midway through the first half, when she sent a shot toward net that was mishandled by Haddonfield, senior keeper Kellie Riley. The ball would trickle in, giving the Braves a 1-0 lead.

“Obviously at that point, you worry,” Gess said. “But I told the girls at halftime, ‘We only need one goal. Not two, one.’ Because a lot of times, teams fall behind by one and will press for two. I wanted to make sure that wasn’t us.”

The second half would prove to be a completely different story, as Haddonfield would control the tempo the entire half. That was apparent right from the start, as senior midfielder Katie Johnston scored an equalizer 35 seconds in.

“The goal really helped us settle in and control the half,” Gess said. “After that we just kept pushing and pushing. I think we really tired them out. Whenever there was a foul or a throw, I could tell they would take an extra second or two to catch their breath. All we had to do after that was catch them napping once. We’re a team that plays though the air, and that can really tire a team out.”

Each team would have their share of chances before the half was done. Six minutes into the half, Johnston would send a header just wide of the net. In the 40th minute, ‘Gami would have a shot slide across the face of the goal. In the 60th, Skroski came close to doubling her tally, but her shot went high. Then with ten minutes to go in regulation, chaos in front of the net resulted in Riley making a diving save to preserve the tie and force overtime.

The Dawgs would earn a corner in the third minute, and would keep the ball in Absegami’s half of the field until the long throw-in set up Bonnet’s heroics.

“We’ve got an unbelievable group of girls,” Gess said. “This team, they’re fighters. That showed today.”

Haddonfield will take on Paul VI on Sunday at 4:00 in an SJCT semifinal game. That game will be played at Eastern High School.