South Jersey Girls’ Soccer Public School Tournament Preview
The postseason for South Jersey high school girls’ soccer is right around the corner. First round action begins on Nov. 4 at the higher seed, with the second round on Nov. 7. The sectional semifinals are on Nov. 11 and the finals will be played Nov. 14.
There is no state semifinal for the Non-Public schools, so their state championships will be either Nov. 20 or 21 at Franklin Township. The public school state semifinals are Nov. 18. This year the South Jersey sectional champion will play the state semifinal at the site of the Central Jersey champ. The public school state championship will be either Nov. 23 or 24 at Franklin High School.
It will be interesting if the sectional finals are as tight as closely contested as they were last year, when all four South Jersey title games were decided by one goal.
Here is a look at the four public school Groups in South Jersey. At press time the official seeding had not been released, but the projected seeds are courtesy of NJ.com. Team records are through Oct. 27.
SJ GROUP 1
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Defending champion: Audubon beat Schalick, 2-1.
Outlook: Audubon is expected to be the No. 1 seed and the Green Wave will be difficult to beat. Audubon won the Colonial Conference Liberty Division title, a strong division that includes Group 2 contenders West Deptford, Sterling and Haddonfield. Senior midfielder Makenna Ammon, who entered the week with a team-high 16 goals, leads the attack and junior keeper Kylie Cannaday has 14 shutouts. Schalick, the projected No. 2 seed, remains the biggest challenger for Audubon.
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Defending champion: Audubon beat Schalick, 2-1.
Outlook: Audubon is expected to be the No. 1 seed and the Green Wave will be difficult to beat. Audubon won the Colonial Conference Liberty Division title, a strong division that includes Group 2 contenders West Deptford, Sterling and Haddonfield. Senior midfielder Makenna Ammon, who entered the week with a team-high 16 goals, leads the attack and junior keeper Kylie Cannaday has 14 shutouts. Schalick, the projected No. 2 seed, remains the biggest challenger for Audubon.
SJ GROUP 2
Defending champion: Seneca beat Cinnaminson, 3-2.
Outlook: Teams in this section won’t be complaining that Cinnaminson will be competing in Central Jersey Group 2, where the Pirates are the projected No. 3 seed and should be a contender. The South Jersey Group 2 tournament should be wide open. Defending champion Seneca (6-8-3) is only a projected No. 5 seed, but the Golden Eagles compete in the Olympic Conference and their schedule prepares them for the state tournament. Besides Seneca, other contenders include projected No. 1 seed West Deptford, No. 2 seed Haddonfield and No. 4 seed Sterling. These three teams are from the competitive Colonial Conference Liberty Division. Haddonfield (7-8-2) bears watching. The Bulldogs have split with West Deptford, going 0-1-1 vs Sterling and recently beat Colonial Liberty champion Audubon.
Defending champion: Seneca beat Cinnaminson, 3-2.
Outlook: Teams in this section won’t be complaining that Cinnaminson will be competing in Central Jersey Group 2, where the Pirates are the projected No. 3 seed and should be a contender. The South Jersey Group 2 tournament should be wide open. Defending champion Seneca (6-8-3) is only a projected No. 5 seed, but the Golden Eagles compete in the Olympic Conference and their schedule prepares them for the state tournament. Besides Seneca, other contenders include projected No. 1 seed West Deptford, No. 2 seed Haddonfield and No. 4 seed Sterling. These three teams are from the competitive Colonial Conference Liberty Division. Haddonfield (7-8-2) bears watching. The Bulldogs have split with West Deptford, going 0-1-1 vs Sterling and recently beat Colonial Liberty champion Audubon.
SJ GROUP 3
Defending champion: Shawnee beat Ocean City, 3-2.
Outlook: Last year Shawnee advanced to the state final before losing to Chatham in penalty kicks after the teams played to a 1-1 draw through regulation and overtime. Shawnee (16-0) is the projected top seed in SJ Group 3, and the Renegades will be difficult to unseat. Junior midfielder Madelynn Sadusky (14 goals, 9 assists) leads a balanced Shawnee offense The projected No. 2 and 3 seeds are Cherry Hill West and Ocean City respectively. Cherry Hill West (13-4-1) opened the season with a 1-0 loss to Shawnee. Ocean City (17-3) recently beat Egg Harbor Township, 3-1 to win the Cape Atlantic League tournament championship. Senior Naomi Nnewihe who scored 28 goals last year, already has 29 this season and is the type of player who can be a major factor in the state tournament.
Defending champion: Shawnee beat Ocean City, 3-2.
Outlook: Last year Shawnee advanced to the state final before losing to Chatham in penalty kicks after the teams played to a 1-1 draw through regulation and overtime. Shawnee (16-0) is the projected top seed in SJ Group 3, and the Renegades will be difficult to unseat. Junior midfielder Madelynn Sadusky (14 goals, 9 assists) leads a balanced Shawnee offense The projected No. 2 and 3 seeds are Cherry Hill West and Ocean City respectively. Cherry Hill West (13-4-1) opened the season with a 1-0 loss to Shawnee. Ocean City (17-3) recently beat Egg Harbor Township, 3-1 to win the Cape Atlantic League tournament championship. Senior Naomi Nnewihe who scored 28 goals last year, already has 29 this season and is the type of player who can be a major factor in the state tournament.
SJ GROUP 4
Defending champion: Central Regional beat Kingsway, 1-0.
Outlook: Central Regional (13-3-1) is the projected top seed and will be difficult to beat. The Golden Eagles play in a difficult division (Shore Conference A South) with the likes of Point Pleasant Boro and Toms River North and South and that should prepare them for the state tournament. A team to watch is Eastern (11-5-2), projected as the No. 2 seed. The Vikings finished second in the Olympic Conference American Division to SJ Group 3 favorite Shawnee. Eastern, which suffered a 1-0 loss to South Jersey’s consensus No. 1 team Shawnee, isn’t a high scoring team, but the Vikings are stingy defensively.
Defending champion: Central Regional beat Kingsway, 1-0.
Outlook: Central Regional (13-3-1) is the projected top seed and will be difficult to beat. The Golden Eagles play in a difficult division (Shore Conference A South) with the likes of Point Pleasant Boro and Toms River North and South and that should prepare them for the state tournament. A team to watch is Eastern (11-5-2), projected as the No. 2 seed. The Vikings finished second in the Olympic Conference American Division to SJ Group 3 favorite Shawnee. Eastern, which suffered a 1-0 loss to South Jersey’s consensus No. 1 team Shawnee, isn’t a high scoring team, but the Vikings are stingy defensively.
Photo: Sterling's No. 13 Elyse Simpson and Audubon's No. 10 Makenna Ammon / Marc Narducci
Author: Marc Narducci
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