Union Catholic Prepares for Quarterfinal Soccer Matchups

This has been a streaky season so far for the Union Catholic girls’ soccer team.

It commenced with a 3-0 start that included back-to-back overtime triumphs.

Then the Vikings were defeated by three straight Union County Conference opponents, falling to Goverrnor Livingston, New Providence and Cranford as the schedule became much more challenging.

Union Catholic rebounded with an 8-0 win at underdog Hillside before losing to three more tough county foes in Scotch Plains, Johnson and Brearley, managing only one goal in that span.

As a result, the Vikings earned the 11th seed for the 29th annual Union County Tournament and drew a first round matchup at sixth-seeded Summit.

The host Hilltoppers started their season 6-0 before falling at Cranford 1-0 Tuesday by allowing a goal in the final minute of regulation. Summit won its next match and stood at 7-1 Saturday when it hosted Union Catholic in UCT play.

Summit jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first half when Eden Smith scored 25 minutes in.

Union Catholic, bolstered by junior goalkeeper Samantha Pauls’ 15-save effort, managed to tie the game at 1-1 on a goal by Colleen Mulkern with 18 minutes left in the second half.

Now the Vikings were in overtime for the fourth time this season, with a 2-1 record in that department going in, all three games decided in single OT.

Overtime wins came at Rahway 2-1 on an Abby Calixto goal with her left foot (she is right-footed) on Sept. 15 and at South Plainfield 1-0 on a header goal by Aly Guzman off a corner kick from Calixto.

Governor Livingston’s Alyssa Giannone scored two minutes into overtime to down the Vikings 4-3 in Berkeley Heights on April 22, which was the team’s third consecutive match that went to overtime, all taking place on the road.

This time against Summit, neither team scored in either 10-minute sudden death overtime period and, as a result, the game had to be decided in a penalty kick shootout.

With each team getting five kicks and then if the match is still tied after that each getting one more until there is a winner, Union Catholic was able to win the shootout 4-3 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Scoring penalty kicks for the Vikings in the shootout were Mulkern, Victoria Lopes, Karla Rodriguez and Calixto.

Lopes, a sophomore, resides in Union, Calixto, also a sophomore, in Rahway and Guzman, a junior, in Hillside.

The Vikings are the only team in the quarterfinals that defeated a team that was seeded among the Top 8.

“The good thing is that they’re gaining experience and sometimes you forget how young they are,” said Union Catholic head coach Jim Revel earlier in the season after the team’s overtime win at South Plainfield. “The key now is to let them see varsity experience and, hopefully, they will improve every game.”

Union Catholic has shown an ability to improve up to this point in the season.

The Vikings begin the week 5-6 and still have designs on qualifying for the Non-Public, North A playoffs. The state playoff cutoff date is Oct. 23, with this being the first year that you may not need a .500 record to qualify in your section.

“So far it’s a work in progress and, hopefully, we’ll get better as the season goes on,” Revel continued.

Now Union Catholic will face an undefeated team in the quarterfinals in third-seeded New Providence, which improved to 10-0 with a convincing 8-1 home win over 14th-seeded Linden Saturday in its first round match.

Union Catholic is supposed to play at New Providence next Saturday (Oct. 17) in its quarterfinal matchup, although it could be pushed up a day or two without notification like many of the matches are.

Union Catholic still has not played a home game on its new FieldTurf this season as it has not yet been deemed playable by UC officials. The first game by either the boys’ or girls’ soccer team on it could be contested this week.

The Pioneers are sparked by the standout play of high-scoring forward Rachel Schlobohm, who led Union County in goals last year with 23 and has netted a bunch more this season. Schlobohm had two in her team’s UCT victory vs. Linden.

Union Catholic lost to New Providence 2-1 in New Providence on Sept. 24, with Calixto scoring and Sarah Cunha, a junior from Hillside, earning an assist on the goal. Pauls made 14 saves.

Scoring for New Providence were Amy Marchisio and Schlobohm. Goalkeeper Connie Haggerty stopped five shots.

The other three quarterfinal matchups – to be played Saturday, but could be pushed up a day or two earlier – include fifth-seeded Cranford at fourth-seeded Union and eighth-seeded Oak Knoll at top-seeded Westfield on the top side of the bracket and seventh-seeded Johnson at second-seeded and four-time defending champion Scotch Plains on the lower side of the bracket.

2009 GIRLS' SOCCER 
UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT 
 
SEEDS: 
1-Westfield. 2-Scotch Plains. 3-New Providence. 4-Union. 
5-Cranford. 6-Summit. 7-Johnson. 8-Oak Knoll. 
9-Governor Livingston. 10-Brearley. 11-Union Catholic. 12-Kent Place 
13-Rahway. 14-Linden. 15-Roselle Catholic. 16-Roselle Park. 
17-Elizabeth. 18-Plainfield. 
 
PRELIMINARY ROUND: 
Tuesday, Oct. 6 
Roselle Catholic 2, Plainfield 1 - at Plainfield 
Thursday, Oct. 8 
Roselle Park 5, Elizabeth 0 - at Roselle Park 
 
FIRST ROUND: 
Friday, Oct. 9 
Scotch Plains 6, Roselle Catholic 0 – at Scotch Plains

Saturday, Oct. 10

Cranford 4, Kent Place 0 – at Cranford

Union 1, Rahway 0 – at Union

Oak Knoll 4, Governor Livingston 2 – at Oak Knoll

Westfield 7, Roselle Park 0 – at Westfield

Union Catholic 2, Summit 1 (PKs 4-3) – at Summit

New Providence 8, Linden 1 – at New Providence

Johnson 2, Brearley 0 – at Johnson

 
QUARTERFINALS: 
Saturday, Oct. 17 
Matches at the higher seeds at various times. 
The matches could also be moved up to Friday, Thursday or Wednesday.

TOP SIDE OF THE BRACKET;

5-Cranford at 4-Union

8-Oak Knoll at 1-Westfield

BOTTOM SIDE OF THE BRACKET:

11-Union Catholic at 3-New Providence

7-Johnson at 2-Scotch Plains

 
SEMIFINALS: 
Sunday, Oct. 25 at Johnson 
Bottom side of the bracket match, 5 p.m. 
Top side of the bracket match, 7 p.m. 
 
FINAL: 
Saturday, Oct. 31 at Johnson 
Semifinal winners, 7 p.m. 

3 SEEDS OUTSIDE THE TOP 8 ADVANCE ON THE BOYS’ SIDE

Rahway, Plainfield and Linden won on the road as seeds outside of the Top 8 to advance to the boys’ quarterfinals.

Rahway, the 12th seed, will play at fourth-seeded Union after winning at fifth-seeded Governor Livingston 3-0.

Plainfield, the 11th seed, will play at third-seeded Scotch Plains after winning at sixth-seeded New Providence 1-0 in overtime.

Linden, the 10th seed, will play at second-seeded Westfield after winning at seventh-seeded Johnson 3-2.

he other quarterfinal matchup pits eighth-seeded and defending champion Elizabeth at top-seeded Cranford. Elizabeth has been in three of the last four championship games, winning its first crown in 2005 and second in 2008.

Cranford lost at Elizabeth 1-0 in last year’s quarterfinals. The Cougars have never won the UCT and last appeared in the final in 2002, falling to Scotch Plains 1-0 in the title contest.

Cranford begins the week ranked No. 10 in the state by The Star-Ledger, is 12-0 and has outscored the opposition by a whopping 49-3 margin, which includes nine shutouts and five in a row.

Cranford blanked 16th-seeded Union Catholic 3-0 in its first round UCT game Saturday at Cranford’s new FieldTurf at Memorial Field.

The Cougars last gave up a goal on Sept. 25, which was late in the first half to Union Catholic junior forward Michael Veiksans in their come-from-behind 2-1 win over the Vikings at Cranford’s Walnut Avenue School grass field. 

2009 BOYS' SOCCER 
UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT 
 
SEEDS: 
1-Cranford. 2-Westfield. 3-Scotch Plains. 4-Union. 
5-Governor Livingston. 6-New Providence. 7-Johnson. 8-Elizabeth. 
9-Summit. 10-Linden. 11-Plainfield. 12-Rahway. 
13-Oratory Prep. 14-Dayton. 15-Brearley. 16-Union Catholic. 
17-Roselle Catholic. 
 
PRELIMINARY ROUND: 
Tuesday, Oct. 6 
Union Catholic 2, Roselle Catholic 1 (OT) - at Roselle Catholic 
 
FIRST ROUND: 
Wednesday, Oct. 7 
Linden 3, Johnson 2 - at Johnson 
Thursday, Oct. 8 
Elizabeth 2, Summit 1 (OT) - at Elizabeth 
Saturday, Oct. 10

Rahway 3, Governor Livingston 0 – at Governor Livingston

Union 6, Oratory Prep 1 – at Union

Cranford 3, Union Catholic 0 – at Cranford

Plainfield 1, New Providence 0 (OT) – at New Providence

Scotch Plains 4, Dayton 0 – at Scotch Plains

Westfield 6, Brearley 1 – at Westfield

 
QUARTERFINALS: 
Saturday, Oct. 17 
Matches at the higher seeds at various times.

The matches could also be moved up to Friday, Thursday or Wednesday.

TOP SIDE OF THE BRACKET:

12-Rahway at 4-Union

8-Elizabeth at 1-Cranford

BOTTOM SIDE OF THE BRACKET:

11-Plainfield at 3-Scotch Plains

10-Linden at 2-Westfield

SEMIFINALS: 
Friday, Oct. 23 at Johnson 
Bottom side of the bracket match, 5 p.m 
Top side of the bracket match, 7 p.m. 
 
FINAL: 
Saturday, Oct. 31 at Johnson 
Semifinal winners, 5:30 p.m.