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Schools

Dragons Put an End to Early-Season Skid

Brick girls soccer posts a 1-0 victory over Manchester

Staring down an unusual and unexpected 0-3 start, it was time for the Brick Dragons girls soccer team to get back to the basics on Friday afternoon against the Manchester Hawks.

Basic soccer is not the prettiest kind of game, but the Dragons grinded out a 1-0 win in Shore Conference Class B South, while putting the clamps on defensively.  With an emphasis on the defensive side of the ball, the Dragons limited the Hawks offense, but also their own at the same time.

Neither team registered a true shot on net in the first half, with Brick sending four shots wide.

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“We came out here and finally played composed early,” Mike Berardinelli, the Dragons head coach, said. “We did not panic not being able to score, and finally came up with some flow offensively late.”

With the move of sophomore Taylor Palmer to midfield, it gives the Dragons a better opportunity to push the ball up the field, rather than kick the ball upfield and hope the forwards win it. Two of Palmer’s first-half attempts went wide, and her end-to-end rush with 15 minutes to play in the first half came up empty as well.

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“That was a bit of a different move today,” Berardinelli said. “There’s a lot of new faces we are still working, but this seems like a good fit.”

Junior forward Alexa Puglisi served a ball in the area of senior forward Jenn Barrett, but the two could not connect for a goal. Later, Katie Bellardino sent a ball over the middle from the corner to set up Barrett and Shelly Caprino, but neither could make anything of the chance.

Once the second half started, it appeared to be only a matter of time before Brick took the lead.

“We had three really good attempts before breaking through,”  Berardinelli said. “It’s easy to get caught in transition and give up a goal once you get the ‘When is it going to happen?’ feeling.”

A minute after Jenn Barrett’s cross was saved by the keeper, more dangerous than the other chances, Palmer rocketed a shot off the crossbar. Two minutes later, she had set up Kelly Salsano in the middle, but the senior pushed it just wide.

Coming up empty off the four-minute charge, Brick looked frustrated and made a few sloppy turnovers, but Nicole Fasano and the defense held strong.

Finally, with 12 minutes to play, Palmer cleaned up a loose ball in front of the Manchester net, giving the Dragons their first lead of the year.

“It’s definitely a relief to be able to pull this game out. Things have not gone the way we expected them to go so far,” Berardinelli said. “We were knocking all game long. Once we scored we started to manage the clock.”

After taking on Clifton High School Saturday morning, Brick will travel to Howell to take on the Rebels, Monday at 6:30 p.m.

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