The Ocean County College women’s soccer team worked overtime – and then some – to win the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Region XIX North Atlantic District B Tournament.
The second-seeded Vikings waged war with top-seeded Rowan College of South Jersey-Gloucester through 90 minutes of regulation play (45-minute halves) and two10-minute overtimes before prevailing 5-4 on penalty kicks after battling the host Roadrunners to a scoreless tie.
Sophomore defender Alexis Scully, an ex-Toms River High School South player from Beachwood, right-footed the ball into the upper right corner of the net for the winning score. She was her team’s sixth shooter.
“She had always taken PKs into the right side upper 90 despite not wanting to be one of our shooters,” fourth-year OCC coach Breeana Cassidy said after the Vikings’ second straight title and seventh in school history. “Alexis was nervous approaching the PK line, but she left their keeper motionless. This was the most amazing feeling I have had in my career. Once she made the PK, despite the official not blowing the whistle right away, the bench knew we won.”
OCC keeper Holly Applegate, a sophomore from South, made several saves during the shootout despite a leg contusion suffered in the previous round in a collision with an opponent. She missed the remainder of the game. She made 21 saves in the finale. Her PK to the right corner gave OCC a 3-2 lead.
“After the final whistle, our team sprinted to Holly for the tremendous game she played,” Cassidy said. “Playing on that kind of injury is no joke. Holly expressed high pain before the game. We were not sure she would play until five minutes prior to the match. She was lights out during the shootout. I knew last season was tough for her, facing a loss in previous shootouts. She pulled a complete 360 in her play in the final. On every shot, she was inches from making a ridiculous save. With the score tied at four, she missed her shot over the crossbar. She returned to the net and made another wicked save to the right corner, giving us the opportunity to win the game.
“I knew in the back of my head that I wanted Holly to be our last shooter. She was brilliant in taking PKs as a keeper. Alexis was nervous about taking another PK. I knew in the back of my head she would get the job done.”
An emotional celebration followed the match. There was screaming and yelling. There was a dog pile of champions. Cassidy received a victory shower on her head. Plaques were raised.
“I was so beyond proud of them and I wanted everyone to know this team deserved this title more than anyone,” Cassidy said.
OCC’s other shooters were freshman defender-midfielder Taylor Lewis (Central Regional), freshman midfielder Arianna McMahon (Toms River East), sophomore midfielder Molly Herr (Toms River North), freshman midfielder Julianna Cummings (South) and Applegate. The Vikings worked on PKs all season after losing on PKs in the national tournament in 2022.
“I chose our shooters based on the history of previous PKs,” Cassidy said. “The order was chosen at that very moment of the game based on performance. A few players were not comfortable taking their PK where they were placed, but they stepped up to the occasion. I assured them that whatever the outcome of their PK I was proud of them. That gave them the courage to rise to the occasion.”
One of the Vikings’ captains, sophomore defender-goalkeeper Anijha Mosa, (South) made what Cassidy termed “an amazing save” to preserve the tie.
“The atmosphere of the shootout was tense,” Cassidy said. “An official made a wrong call, pulling Holly off the field for a few minutes. It forced us to put in Mosa. It was tense from that moment on. Everyone thought Holly was too hurt to make any sort of save. The girls were nervous, but I had a great group of captains who had great words prior to the shootout.”
The captains were Mosa, Applegate and Scully.
“They said, ‘This is our game to win. We fought all season long. We’ve practiced these (PK’s) all year long. We are going to close this game and be back-to-back champions,’ ” said Cassidy, assisted by John Merklin. “Our group was special in wanting to get back to the big stage and win on the big stage again (OCC fell to Rowan 3-0 earlier this season). We faced so much adversity all season. People claimed we were lucky to win last season, but we proved we were meant to be where we were. We had a target on our backs all season long. Everyone was looking to take us out because we were a nationally-ranked team (as high as sixth and eighth).
“The girls were super special. They rallied when we really needed it. At the end of the season, they really pulled together and did not give up the fight.”
Applegate was named the Defensive Most Valuable Player of the finale. Lewis was named its Offensive MVP. Freshman forward Rory Hagen (Southern Regional) earned second-team All-America, first-team All-Region and first-team All-Garden State Athletic Conference honors. She led the Vikings in points (22) and goals (nine) and added four assists. She scored two match-winning goals, appearing in 14 matches and starting 13.
“She was brought in as a defender,” Cassidy said. “I made a wild and risky decision to move her to forward before the season started. She is tremendous at cutting the ball back and changing direction to throw defenders off. Her shots on goal got better and better throughout the season. She reminds me of myself when I played (for Freehold Boro). No matter what position she played, she played her heart out.”
Scully was a first-team All-Region and first-team All-GSAC selection. Applegate was a second-team All-Region and second-team All-GSAC player. Lewis was a second-team All-Region and second-team All-GSAC choice. Freshman defender-midfielder Brooke Ossimina (Jackson Liberty) was a second-team All-GSAC selection.
Other team members were sophomore midfielder Marquella Boutsikaris (Central), sophomore defender Kayleigh Markey (Brick Township), freshman midfielder Alyssa Maisano (South), freshman defender-forward Morgan Dobbin (Barnegat), freshman midfielder Alyssa Duff (Central), freshman midfielder Natalie Christie (South) and freshman midfielder Katey Martinez (South).
“Our slogan all season was, ‘We have a target on our backs. We can’t let adversity bring us down,’ ” Cassidy said. “Postseason and into the national tournament, we started to say a prayer in a circle prior to our games. Anijhia initiated our prayer circle. I let our captains take leadership and it was born into existence because they felt this one way to believe in ourselves and our team.”
Eighth-seeded OCC fell to top-seeded Delta College of Michigan in the first round of the national tournament and bested fifth-seeded Onondaga College of New York State 3-1 in the consolation round. Delta was 20-0 overall and ranked first during the regular season. OCC was 8-5-1 overall, 7-4-1 in Region XIX for third place and 5-2 in the GSAC for third. The Roadrunners were 7-5-1 overall.
