PHOTO GALLERY: OCHS girls soccer wins first South Jersey championship in 17 years
November 9, 2017
New OCHS football schedule may include Bridgeton & EHT
November 12, 2017

Ocean City wins South Jersey girls soccer title in shootout

By TOM WILLIAMS

The Ocean City High School girls soccer team is the South Jersey Group 3 champion.

Freshman Suzy Dietrich and sophomore Delaney Lappin scored in a the penalty kick shootout after the Raiders and Cherry Hill West had played 100 minutes of scoreless soccer.

Dietrich made the first shot in the shootout to the right of the West keeper. Cherry Hill West quickly tied the score. But Lappin got the ball past the West goalkeeper, a shot to the left, and the celebration began.

Dietrich and Lappin made the key shots but, once again, the OCHS defense shut down an opponent. Sophomore Abby Fenton, who has set a new school record for shutouts in a season and has not allowed a goal in the Group 3 Tournament, made the saves when challenged and the Raider defense generally kept Cherry Hill West away from the goal.

West (9-8-5) almost continued its reputation as a giant killer. The Lions, seeded 10th, knocked off No. 2 seed Mainland in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Delsea in the semis.

The South Jersey title by Kelly Halliday’s team continued NJSIAA Championship Week 2 for the Raiders, who last won a South Jersey girls soccer title in 2000. The win lifted the OCHS record to 20-3, the first 20-win season ever by an Ocean City girls soccer team.

The Raiders will now play Allentown (20-1), the No. 12 ranked team in the state, in the NJSIAA State Semifinal. Allentown won its first Central Jersey championship by beating Toms River East, 2-1. The state semifinal will be at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at Toms River High School North.

Ocean City fans are hoping it will be a Raider doubleheader.

Tomorrow (2pm) at Carey Stadium Aaron Bogushefsky’s boys soccer team (18-2-1) will face Mainland in the South Jersey final and the winner of that game will play at 7:30 on Tuesday at Toms River North, right after the girls game.

The Mustangs won the American Conference championship in the Cape-Atlantic League and the Raiders were National Conference champs. This will be their only meeting of the season.

The Mustangs, who won 13 straight at one point this season, were beaten only by Atlantic City and Washington Township. Ocean City also lost to Washington Township in the Coaches Invitational Tournament. Mainland is led by junior Jack Sarkos with 25 goals. Senior Keegan Ford has a team-high 14 assists for the Mustangs and senior keeper Matt Stellitano has made 131 saves.

In addition to the boys soccer final tomorrow afternoon, the OCHS football team (6-2) will travel to Delsea (6-3) for a first round game in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 playoffs tomorrow night. The game in Franklinville will kick off at 7 p.m. Delsea is led by junior running back Aidan Borguet (5-10, 196) who has rushed for 1659 yards and 22 touchdowns. If the football team upsets Delsea on Friday it will advance to the South Jersey semifinals against either Timber Creek or Seneca.

Then, on Saturday, Ocean City’s cross country teams will run in the NJSIAA State Group 3 Meet in Holmdel Park. The girls won their ninth South Jersey title over the weekend and the boys finished fourth. The top five teams in each section qualify for the state meet. Ocean City’s girls have won one state championship – in 1988. The boys have never won a state title.

If the cross country teams finish in the top three in Saturday’s state meets they will advance to the Meet of Champions on Nov. 18.

The complete girls soccer game with Cherry Hill East, produced by Matt Ulmer, can be seen here —–