By LESLEY GRAHAM
The Ocean City High School girls soccer team, coming off an overtime win against Millville in the first round, defeated visiting Mainland, 2-0, to capture the Cape Atlantic League championship Monday.
Kasey McDonnell and Summer Reimet both scored for the Red Raiders, who avenged their overtime loss to Mainland less than a week ago on the same field.
McDonnell found the back of the net off a corner kick from Hope Slimmer, giving the Red Raiders a 1-0 advantage with under 30 minutes to play in the first half.
Reimet, who leads the team and the state with 46 goals, put in a beauty of a goal with 15 minutes remaining, lifting Ocean City to a 2-0 lead at halftime.
Mainland did not make it easy for Ocean City in the second half, using continuous subbing to keep fresh legs out on the field in hopes of tiring Ocean City out.
But the Red Raiders did not take their foot off the gas and continued to press Mainland and keep the ball in their possession. Ocean City goalkeeper Tori Vliet came up with some big saves throughout the game to keep the Mustangs off the scoreboard.
The conference title is the first for Ocean City Head Coach Lisa Cuneo because there was no conference tournament last season, her first as head coach. She was pleased with how her team came out and played after a tough few days.
“I know it’s cliche, but the girls learned a lot from that loss (to Mainland). They were very resilient going into Absegami and then against Millville, when we had to battle back from being down two,” Cuneo said.
“We were in a better mindset today than we were last time we faced them. We were ready to work hard for what we needed and today was about execution,” she added.
Ocean City is preparing for Senior Night on Tuesday against Middle Township, which will be a nonconference game. The Red Raiders will then host Delsea in the South Jersey Coaches Tournament on Friday. Ocean City is the tournament’s No. 2 seed.
In state playoff contention, Ocean City is currently sitting as the top seed in the Group 3 South power points system. The Red Raiders are on the hunt for a repeat state championship, winning the title in 2019. There was no state tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
