H.S. girls' soccer: Schalick earns first sectional title in 17 years

PITTSGROVE – Even when injuries and illness created difficulties during the season, the Schalick High School girls’ soccer team always managed to keep its eyes on the prize.

On Thursday, the Cougars got to put their hands around it – a sectional trophy.

Schalick captured the program’s first South Jersey title in 17 years with a 2-0 victory over Pennsville in the Group 1 final.

Kerri Jackson highlighted the victory with her 39th goal of the season, setting a program single-season record for the Cougars.

The sectional title was also the first in the illustrious career of Schalick head coach Bob Mannino, who has 293 career wins and a member of the New Jersey State Coaches Association and South Jersey Soccer hall of fames. After coaching Triton for 22 years, Mannino took over the Schalick program last season. His teams had qualified for the postseason in all of his 24 seasons, including three unsuccessful trips to the South Jersey title game.

“It’s for the kids,” said an emotional Mannino. “I worked with these kids to get them over the top and they got me over the top with them.”

After the game, the very superstitious Mannino rummaged through his lucky gym bag, showing off several of prized items he has gathered over his career.

He’s going to need to add a memento from this Cougars’ team for sure.

However, there were points when Schalick had to feel like it was being dealt nothing but bad luck.

Even before the opening whistle of the season, the Cougars lost two key players in senior Kylie Casper and junior Simone Borzillo. Then, in early October, the team dealt with more injuries and a COVID-19 situation as many of its key players were sidelined.

“In the beginning of the season, I didn’t know it this was going to be possible,” senior Olivia Langley said. “We had a point in the season (when COVID hit) when I think everyone was discouraged, but we turned it around. Going through those tough times, we grew so much as a team. We started to gain momentum and it really picked in the playoffs and carried through this game.”

Schalick was looking for revenge after Pennsville secured a 1-0 win on Oct. 12, a game the Cougars were playing without their four senior starters.

“We knew it was going to be a different outcome this time around,” said senior Lauren McCall, who missed the game while recovering from a broken foot.

Those seniors were also looking to reverse their fortunes in the title game where Schalick had lost in 2018 and 2020.

“Those two games definitely fueled the fire. We said this can’t happen again, this is our time to shine,” senior Molly Wood said. “We had to do this and we knew could.”

Senior Maresa Savarese added. “We’ve been here three times in our high school career, it feels so good to finally win it. There’s a positivity about this team, a great chemistry between us. It’s just been different.”

Schalick wasted no time setting the tone in the game, ricocheting a shot off the crossbar in the opening minutes before junior Angeline Chomo broke the ice with the game’s first goal, knocking in a deflection off a post.

The Cougars delivered a huge insurance goal with just 42 seconds left in the first half when Jackson crashed the net after a direct kick hit the post. Jackson collided with the goalie and never saw the ball cross the goal line for her record 39th goal, breaking the old mark of 38 set by Sara Copare in 2005.

“I was just laying there and everyone started cheering, I was like, ‘Did I get it?’" the junior said.

Mannino knew the goal was in and wasn't surprised that Jackson did everything she could to knock the ball in.

“She’s one of many tough players we have on this team,” the coach said. “She just has a knack for putting the ball in the net. She threw her body right in there, she ran right through everything.”

While one goal was plenty with the way the Schalick defense has been playing lately, two felt like a lock.

The Cougars’ defense of Chomo, freshman Athena Eberl, junior Ella Berger and Langley along with sophomore goalie Carly Hayman hasn’t surrendered a goal in six straight games, a total of over 480 minutes of play. The defense kept Pennsville far away from Hayman, who needed just one shot to record the clean sheet.

A big crowd, which was loud throughout the game, helped the Cougars celebrate the win on the field after the game.

“Not only will this make our team and coaches proud, but it’s for the whole school too,” Wood said.

While Pennsville’s season didn’t end with a title, the Eagles thrived under first-year coach Samantha Trapp, finishing their season at 12-6-2.

“How can you not be proud of this team?” said Trapp, who returned to the field she played on with the Cougars as a 2008 graduate of Schalick. “We started out 1-4 and we made a run that was magical. They deserved to be playing in this game.”

Schalick now sets its sights on the elusive state title. The Cougars will play the Central Jersey champion on Wednesday in the state semifinal round.

Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: H.S. girls' soccer: Schalick earns first sectional title in 17 years