Some girls’ soccer semis feature familiar foes

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Some girls’ soccer semis feature familiar foes

There will be a familiar feel to the South Jersey girls' soccer semifinals that will be staged Monday at the site of the higher-seeded team.

In three of the four South Jersey public school semifinals, at least three of the four participants will be coming from the same conference.

Group 2 has upstaged everybody by having all four semifinalists from the Colonial Conference.

Group 4 will have three of the four teams from the Olympic Conference.

And Group 1 features three of the four from the Tri-County Conference.

Only Group 3 departs from the pattern. In fact, only two teams from the seven-county South Jersey area are left in Group 3, Moorestown and Highland.

For fans who are really ambitious, the Group 2 semifinals can both be viewed, with West Deptford traveling to Haddonfield's Scout Field at 2 p.m and Haddon Heights visiting Haddon Township at 4 p.m.

"I think you could equate it to the smaller version of the Group 4 story," said Heights coach T.J. Ambrose. "Those schools are all familiar with each other and it boils down to how bad a team wants it."

Sometimes seedings can be misleading but in Group 2, the top four seeds have made it to the semifinals, with defending sectional champion and second-seeded Haddonfield the favorite.

Haddonfield has beaten its opponent, No. 3-seed West Deptford twice this season, 3-2 and 3-0. That means the Eagles will have a major chip on their shoulder.

As for the other matchup, No. 1 Haddon Township beat No. 4 Haddon Heights in their only meeting, 2-0. Both teams have premier sweepers – Lauren McCutcheon for Township and Megan Roney of Heights, so goals will be at a premium.

The Group 4 semifinals belong to the Olympic Conference, although Clearview of the Tri-County Conference will attempt to crash the party.

Eastern meets Shawnee in an all-Olympic game. In the regular season, Shawnee beat the Vikings, 3-2 in overtime.

Olympic American champion Lenape faces Clearview in the other semifinal. Clearview could be an honorary Olympic Conference member, with two wins over Cherokee, one over Eastern and close losses to Washington Township and Paul VI.

More than its affiliation with the Olympic, one of the story lines of this playoff is whether Lenape can win a third straight sectional and state title. The Indians have beaten Oakcrest and Washington Township in their first two games by a combined 6-0 score, so complacency doesn't seem to be a problem.

In Group 1, No. 5 Schalick visits No. 1 Pennsville, in one all-Trico semifinal. Schalick will try to avenge a 3-1 regular-season defeat to the Eagles.

The other semifinal has No. 2-seed Clayton, which won its first-ever Tri-County Classic title, hosting No. 11 seed Maple Shade. In the quarterfinals, Maple Shade got a taste of the Tri-County Conference by ousting Pitman, 2-0.

While on the topic of the Trico, Highland is representing the conference in the Group 3 semifinals, hosting always-dangerous Brick in a Group 3 semifinal.

Moorestown, which recently won its 12th straight Burlco Liberty title, travels to top-seeded Point Pleasant Boro in Monday's other semifinal.

Fellow Liberty Division member Cinnaminson is still alive in the Central Jersey Group 2 race and as the No. 2 seed, will host No. 3-seeded A.L. Johnson in Monday's semifinal.

In non-Public A action, Paul VI hosts Notre Dame, while Non-Public B has Sacred Heart at Holy Cross and St. Rose-Belmar at Gloucester Catholic.

There are teams from a variety of leagues still in the hunt for a sectional championship. Many of them happen to be familiar opponents from the same conference, which adds even more intrigue to what is shaping up an extremely interesting day of soccer in South Jersey.


Contact staff writer Marc Narducci at 856-779-3225 or mnarducci@phillynews.com

 

 

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