Montgomery (2-1)

The Scotch Plains Lightning U13 Girl’s Soccer team had just enough offense to win on Sunday at Montgomery. A spectacular first half goal by Rachel Parker and an even more skillful one by Angelica Glover in the second half combined with the goal keeping of Jaclyn Lazarus and Parker to lift the Lightning to the 2-1 win which cemented their hold on second place in Flight 5 of the MNYSA. With one game to go, the Lightning lead Montgomery by a game but have swept the two games.

“We played a very good game and deserved to win “, said Coach Luis Rodriguez.
“We did an excellent job of covering on defense”.

Parker got the Lightning on the board 12 minutes into the game when she took a long pass from Cathy Harley and outran two defenders to score on a low shot. It was the second time in three weeks that a long Harley pass had resulted in a goal.

The remainder of the first half was dominated by strong two way play by Brittany Biondi,making a fine recovery from her injury a week ago. Jaclyn Lazarus continued to be aggressive in goal and was effective with her punts. Javonni Costello was brilliant as usual with skillful dribbling and defensive play.

Midway through the second half,leading socrer Angelica Glover gave the Lightning some much needed breathing room when she weaved her way past two players and chipped the ball over the goalie’s head.

“It was a beautiful play. She showed a lot of patience”, said Rodriguez. The Lightning appeared headed to their eighth shutout of the year but Montgomery ruined that dream with a goal three minutes from the finish.

In addition to Costello, Alyssa Straniero,Lazarus and Maria Rivero were solid on defense. In addition to Biondi, Glover and Harley, Heather Roriguez, Nina Brownstone,Joanna Naugle,Jessica Nagourney and Kristen Thompson excelled in midfield. In addition to Parker, Rachel Kreyer,Katie Cornacchia and Cheryl Monteiro
Were threatening on offense. The Lightning complete their fall schedule, traveling to South Plainfield next Sunday.