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Schools

Dragons Offense Fizzles in 4-0 Loss at Central

Not the ideal game the Dragons hoped for against recent rival Central Regional

It was only a few weeks ago when Brick Dragons varsity girls soccer head coach Mike Berardinelli discussed some of the biggest games of 2011. Topping the list of games was a match against Central Regional, a team Brick beat twice last year, yet the Golden Eagles managed to oust the Dragons of the Shore Conference Tournament.

The Dragons will have to wait until Sept. 28 for revenge now however, after a disappointing performance in a 4-0 loss.

“We needed to be a lot more consistent than we were this afternoon,” said Berardinelli. “Everyone has a specific job, when they complete them together they become one unit – we were not on the same page today.  It’s their job to take some responsibility as a team.”

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Although being vastly out-possessed, the Dragons were tied at zero at halftime.

“It was big to get out of the first half tied,” said Berardinelli. “Until that point we didn’t have a shot, we were trying our best to weather the storm and hopefully regroup a bit at halftime.”

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The defensive nucleus of Goalkeeper Nicole Fasano, with Corey Scandone and Taylor Palmer as defenders, had their hands full all game and held the Golden Eagles off the scoreboard remarkably long, considering how much more Central had the ball.

A potential momentum swinging save was thwarted away by Fasano in the final minute of the first half. An Eagle had a favorable angle to chase down a loose ball deep in Brick territory, to the right of Fasano. As the shot was placed towards the far bar, Fasano dove over to her left to stop the ball initially, and again as it appeared it might roll up over her arm and in.  

It was one of Central’s eight shots on net, not including seven shots wide or four corners of the first half.

Brick continued to tread water, keeping the score tied through the beginning of the second half. In the very first minute of the second half, Fasano was called upon again, this time facing the closest shot she had seen thus far. On a quick shot from in tight, Fasano would use a kick save, much like a hockey goaltender would to send the ball out of danger.

After another diving save four minutes later it looked as if Brick was going to finish the game without registering a shot, unable to generate anything offensively. Berardinelli then moved up Taylor Palmer to the midfield and Brick turned in their first quality offensive possession.

“I thought we might have finally had something going there,” said Berardinelli. “After moving Taylor up she sparked the offense for a little bit but it wasn’t enough helping her out.”

While the move worked for the most part, Central scored two goal in two minutes just as Brick appeared to come alive. Fasano could do little about either as they came from in close after the Golden Eagle forwards got just enough of a step past the Dragon defenders.

“We’ve got an old saying that holds true in any game,” said Berardinelli. “You can’t win if you don’t score. We had no transition game and it really hurt us.”

Brick will travel back down the Parkway on Wednesday to take on the Lacey Lions at 3:45 p.m., and then host Manchester on Friday night followed by a Saturday morning game against Clifton High School to round out the week.

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