The U-14 NHP Lady Jaguars spent Columbus Day Weekend in Hammonton, NJ at the EDP Fall Cup where they placed third in their division.
The girls tied their first two games and won their third game to earn a spot in the Bronze final.
The Lady Jags came out strong in their first game against Mount Laurel Fury, striking first when defender Cathrine Rivera sent a ball to Marilena Mangiaraina who crossed it to Carly Bloom who booted it in for a goal.
The Fury tied the game up four minutes into the first half and stunned the Lady Jags when they took the lead with 30 seconds to go before half.
Goalie Linda Artusa denied all further scoring opportunities and Carly Bloom tied the game for the Jags halfway through the second half. The game ended in a 2-2 tie.
The second game was a battle between the Lady Jags and Wall SC Wave with both teams skillfully passing the ball up and down the field.
The defense of both teams denied all scoring until the second minute of the second half when the opposition scored.
It took until the 27th minute of the second half when Bella Arato, who was moved from defense to offense, started the scoring drive for the Lady Jags when she received the ball at half field and moved it into the box with a fake shot pass to Carly Bloom who scored to tie the game at 1-1.
The third game against TBAA Premier Strykers was another defensive battle with the only scoring occurring at the 8th minute of the second half when Samantha Coope crossed a ball to Bella Arato for a goal.
Despite a strong effort by the opposition to tie the game in the last 30 seconds of play, the Lady Jags held on earning their spot in the Bronze final.
With the sun setting on the second day of the tournament, the Lady Jags faced the Haddonfield SC Lightening for third place.
The first goal of the game was scored by the Lady Jags when Marilena Mangiaracina passed to Bella Arato whose shot at the goalie ricocheted back into play with Mary Tsahas in position to put it in.
The Lightening tied the game within seconds of the second half. Bella Arato scored the second goal for the Lady Jags on a ball received from Nora Higgins and the opposition tied it up with just over two minutes to go in the game.
Overtime did not produce a winner so the game went to penalty kicks. Nicole Orlando, Andrea Bouzos and Carly Bloom scored for the Lady Jags with a tie at the end of five shots.
Samantha Coope scored the winning goal when the Lightening failed to convert on their final shot.
In addition to the tournament, the NHP Lady Jags remain undefeated in their EDP league with a 3-2 win on Sunday, Oct. 4 when Nora Higgins assisted on the first goal scored by Caitlin Chestler; Linda Artusa punted a rocket to Carly Bloom for the second goal and Marilena Mangiaracina assisted Erin Lutz for the third goal of the game.
Both weekend wins were a great team effort by all including Vrisida Bouzos, Samantha Corrigan, Jillian Fager, Aisling McGrath and Zoe Winston.
