The Ocean City FC U12 Girls created history by becoming the first Nor’easters team to win a tournament. The girls battled through 5 games to become the U12 Central Jersey Invitational champions on Sunday afternoon. The first game resulted in a 3-2 loss to FC Amity Blue Lightning conceding from two penalty kicks. After a change in tactics and shape the team moved onto the second game which turned out to be a complete contrast from the first game, the girls managed to create several clear cut chances in front of goal and easily winning the game 3-0 against Toms River Breakers. That result meant we had to either win or tie with our remaining group game to progress to the knock out stages.
Sunday morning saw the girls play their final group game against ESA Lynx after a slow start Ocean City FC lifted the tempo of the game and managed to score three second half goals to win the game 3-0. Defensively the team looked strong and were rarely put under pressure. We finished second in our bracket and would go onto play the winners of the second bracket, DTS VVV.
The semi final couldn’t have started any better we controlled the game from the start and looked a constant threat throughout the first half. Ocean City FC would score two in the first half and go into half time in a commanding position. The girls knew if they could defend well and break up play in the midfield they would go onto win the game. A third successive shutout meant that the Ocean City FC U12 Girls would reach their first ever final.
The final game was against Toms River who the girls had previously beaten 3-0 in the group stage. The girls attacked straight from the start and were unfortunate not to be leading after 15 seconds when the ball was cleared off the line – the game settled down and we were able to play to our own game plan we took the lead mid way through the first half. The lead was short lived when the referee awarded a penalty to Toms River just before the half time whistle. Tiredness definitely came into play in the second half with the girls making a few mistakes which would prove costly Toms River would go 2-1 up only for Ocean City FC to equalise and make it 2-2. Both teams attacked and were searching for the winning goal, Toms River managed to find a way past Zoe to score and make it 3-2 near the end of the game. As time went on we pushed forward and tried to get as many players in scoring positions as possible, it would come down to the last 30 seconds for us to score and equalise with Madison Howell scoring inside the six yard box with her first ever goal.
The game went straight to penalty kicks with five players putting themselves forward to try and score. Goal scoring hero Madison Howell stepped up to take the first penalty and calmly struck the ball into the top corner. Zoe guessed the right way only to see the ball go past her in the bottom corner for Toms Rivers first penalty. Ocean City FC would miss two of the next three penalties whilst Toms River were unable to score any from their next three with Zoe making two saves. Shayla would step up to take the fifth penalty knowing if she scored Ocean City FC would win the tournament, the whistle blew and she was able to slide the ball into the bottom corner to win the Central Jersey Invitational.
The whole squad came together to win the tournament and we can be confident knowing that whoever is out on the field they are always going to give 100% effort. Defensively the team looked very good and were able to soak up any pressure they were under and if they won the ball they were composed enough to set up a quick attack. Anyone who played in the midfield three throughout the tournament took all of the instructions on board and were able to break up play and protect their defence whilst supporting the attackers when we were in possession of the ball. The forward three were applying pressure to all of the oppositions defences whilst looking to get wide and cross the ball as frequently as they could. Goals from Allison, Nicole and Sammi proved to be vital throughout the competition and we finished with a record of 16 goals for and 6 goals against.
Congratulations to all of the girls, who will now look to build on this victory and take the good form into the final tournament on July 24 and 25 in Fort Dix.
