Jackson girls claim school's first SCT soccer crown

NEPTUNE - The Jackson High School girls soccer team captured its first-ever Shore Conference Tournament championship with an exciting 2-1 win over Brick Memorial last Saturday at Neptune.

"It's the first time a team from Jackson has ever captured that event," Jackson coach Drew Gibson said. "The kids were pretty excited. They really played well during the tournament. I'm real proud of what they have accomplished this season. We still have the states to look forward to."

Jackson squared off against Howell in the first round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV playoffs Monday.

In the win over Brick Memorial, the Lady Jaguars got goals from Kelly Lyons and Kim Menafra. Lyons scored early in the game to put the Jags ahead. Menafra registered her goal in the 60th minute, and Jackson did a fine defensive job thereafter to make the one-goal lead stand up.

In fact, Jackson's defense allowed just one goal the entire tournament. Goalkeeper Marisa Zayac made five saves.

"Defensively we were real solid the entire tournament," Gibson said. "We have a lot of experience on defense and they really showed it. Hopefully we can continue this kind of play into the state tournament."

Twice during the regular season, Toms River North registered victories over Jackson. Both times the Lady Jaguars were defeated by a single goal.

So when the two teams squared off for a third time in the quarterfinals of the SCT, Jackson wasn't about to let the Lady Mariners complete the three-game sweep.

"I think the girls were really ready to play them again," Gibson said. "Losing twice the way we did was tough. Both games were real close and could have gone either way. We were determined to come out on top in this meeting."

Indeed, Jackson got the better of the play at both ends of the field and dealt TRN a 2-0 defeat and advanced to semifinals. Jackson then beat Red Bank Catholic to earn a spot in the title game.

"We were real excited about getting a chance to get to the final," Gibson said. "We've got plenty of talent of this squad. We feel that when we are playing well, that we can match up with any team in the conference. We're looking forward to our semifinal game."

Playing on the turf at Neptune was no issue.

"We've got good team speed," Gibson said. "We've played on turf a couple of times this season and have looked pretty good. I don't think it is going to hurt us to play on it. If we go out and are aggressive, it doesn't matter what kind of field we play on."

In the win over TRN, Menafra scored the game winner just before halftime. Menafra took a pass from Briann Bradley and one-timed a shot from 18 yards that beat the Mariners' goalkeeper to give Jackson a 1-0 lead at the 38- minute mark.

"It was a real pretty goal," Gibson said. "Briann played a ball from about 40 yards out and Kim cut inside and onetimed the shot from the 18."

Jackson added an insurance goal with five minutes remaining in the game when Dana Costello scored for the final margin of victory.

"Both teams had some good scoring opportunities," Gibson said. "We just cashed in on ours. Once we got the lead, our defense did a great job of working as a unit and protecting our goal. I think that we got the better of the play at both ends."

Zayac had eight saves en route to collecting her 11th shutout of the season. Jackson is 14-4 overall.

Prior to the opening kickoff, Gibson told his team to elevate its intensity and remain focused on the game.

"We didn't want to get caught up in some of the stuff that took place in the first two games," Gibson said. "We just needed to come out and play soccer. It is always a physical game when these two teams get together. We did a nice job of keeping the focus on what we had to do."

- Mike White