The nationally ranked Rutgers Prep girls soccer team looks to make program history

They are 12-0 and have out-scored opponents 40-4. So it is no surprise that the Rutgers Prep girls soccer team is ranked No. 1 in the state by nj.com.

Oh. And the United Soccer Coaches Association has them ranked No. 7 in the country. Schools from Oregon, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and Vermont are ranked ahead of them. Just a week ago Prep was ranked No. 3 nationally.

No matter. These young ladies can play. And colleges have noticed.

Goalie Syrai Parker, the only senior, is headed to Connecticut, junior forward Addison Halpern will attend the University of Virginia, junior defender Ellie Robertson is bound for Virginia Tech, and another junior, Brielle Baker, will attend the University of Louisville. A graduate of the Class of ’23, Melina Rebimbas, now plays for the University of North Carolina.

Yes. That good.

The Argonauts handed Immaculata its first loss of the season last week, and Saturday will face Hillsborough in the Somerset County Tournament finals. It has also reached the semi-finals of the state Prep Tournament. It’s tournament time.

Although the program dates back more than 40 years, Prep has never won the Somerset County Tournament.

Prep is coming off the NJSIAA Non-Public B state championship, and the NJSIAA Prep B championship. Two years ago it won the Non-Public B sectional championship. Last season it was defeated in the county championship.

Whatever awaits, whoever awaits, this team is ready for all comers.

“Obviously we want to continue making history and have this Cinderella season,’’ junior forward Addison Halpern said, upstairs in the Learning Conference building. “Our intensity is super high. And it’s not just about winning the counties. We want to go all the way.”

Prep is seeded second in the independent schools tournament, Pennington the top seed at 15-0.

Halpern, from Middlesex, leads the team with 22 goals and 4 assists this season. Sophomore Nyla Lopez has 6 goals and 7 assists, and sophomore mid Ellie Robertson 6 goals and 5 assists.

Parker, the only senior on the team, has 48 saves.

“The girls have been pretty tremendous,’’ coach Jim Buchanan said. “They have communication, organization and an understanding of each other and their roles. We have good balance of defensive awareness, speed and physicality. We pressure high up the field, always making sure life is never easy for the opposing team.”

Buchanan, his fourth year as head coach, has been in the country since 2002. Soccer was engrained in him since growing up in the United Kingdom, leading to his playing in college at Loughborough University.

Parker, of Franklin Township, has played near-perfect in the net. Connecticut-bound, she didn’t begin playing the position until she came to the Prep.

“Too many fouls,’’ she said with a laugh. “So they put me in goal so I couldn’t hurt anybody else. I fell in love with the position and never went back. It can be thrilling; sometimes the game can be on your shoulders.”

She has plenty of help defensively.

Baker, freshman Sandra O’Neill, sophomore Olivia Robinson, sophomore Ava Mason and junior Arianna Pearl do the job interrupting and stopping attacks.

“They don’t give up too many chances,’’ Buchanan said. “They’re pretty physical; especially Brielle in particular. Sandy has speed, Olivia has speed, and Ava plays good all-around defense as well.”

Offensively, everything revolves around Halpern, perhaps the most talented junior in the state.

Asked what a scouting report would say about trying to stop her, Buchanan chimed in first, saying “Good luck.”

“I like to create chances for myself and for others,” she said. “Don’t give me a yard because I’m gonna’ shoot it or try to create something for somebody. Honestly, if all your attention is on me, somebody else is going to take you out. We’re kind of all guns blazing at you.”

As for her co-captain in the net, Halpern said she is a very confident keeper.

“She stays focused, for the majority of the time,” she said with a smile. “She’s a good leader, she leads by example. I think she settles the game down for us. It calms us down, knowing we have a goalie we can trust.”

As for their trust in their coach, no complaints there.

“He’s like, a nice calm coach,” Parker offered. “He tells us what to do, how to fix it, what we did wrong. He calmly assesses situations, and we take that information and we try and put it on the field.”

“I think he looks for problem-solvers to see if we can try and figure it out ourselves, then he’ll step in,” Halpern added. “He looks for his leaders to kind of, ‘Hey, help your team out. Get something going.’ We have to fix it. He’s not ‘my way or the highway.’ He takes input from everybody, and doesn’t make anyone feel less than anyone else. We’re all treated the same.

“He just holds us to high expectations so we can be a successful team. It’s a coaching style that fits with how we play.”

This season, right now, they’re playing like champions.

Paul Franklin is a freelance reporter for MyCentralJersey.com.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ girls soccer: Rutgers Prep is nationally ranked