Girls' Soccer Shuts Out Chatham, Will Play for Title

The West Morris Central girls soccer team continued to roll in NJSIAA Tournament play with a 3-0 victory over Chatham. Kelly Kavanaugh and Sydney Sapir each supplied a goal and an assist to pace West Morris (12-5-2) in the semifinal stage of North Jersey, Section II, Group 3 play in Mount Olive.

The Wolfpack opened up strong, applying pressure on the Chatham goal from the opening whistle. At the 12-minute mark, they grabbed a 1-0 lead when Sydney Sapir brought the ball up the right wing and crossed it to the front of the net.  Kelly Kavanaugh blasted a shot past the goalie to give West Morris an early lead.

West Morris didn’t score again in the first half but you could sense more were coming. They didn’t keep you waiting long, taking less than 30 seconds to score a goal after the second half started. Emily Thomas played a ball out to Ana Doyle on the wing. Doyle brought the ball in from the right side and took a hard shot on goal. The Chatham goalie was able to knock it down but couldn’t cover the rebound. A hard charging Sydney Sapir was there to punch in the rebound for the 2-0 lead.

The Wolfpack got some breathing room 11-minutes later when Amy McQuaide won a free ball in the midfield and brought it up the middle where she played it out to Kavanaugh on the left wing. Kavanaugh beat her defender and slipped a pass to Rachel Matthews in front of the net where Matthews one-timed it into the goal for a 3-0 lead.

Once again, the Wolfpack defense, led by Allie Ketzler, Amanda Pakutka, Amy McQuaide and Julie Shields was outstanding, recording its 5th shutout in a row.  Goalie Kendall Ballotti made 10 saves highlighted by an amazing stop on a high shot as the game wound down.

The Wolfpack record stands at 12-5-2 and they will take on Scotch Plains in the championship game on Thursday in Scotch Plains.