When filling out his preseason form, Williamstown High School coach Dan Torcasio predicted his young team was going to be fun to watch.
He got that right.
The good times continued to roll for the Braves on Monday afternoon as they celebrated their Senior Day game by dominating Highland, 2-0, in Tri-County Conference girls soccer action in Williamstown.
The Braves (6-1) have now won six straight games since a 2-1 loss to Kingsway in their season opener.
“I didn’t know what to expect because we lost 17 seniors last year,” said Torscasio, in his 22nd season. “Some of these young kids – freshmen, sophomores and juniors - came in and have made an instant impact. This senior group has just embraced these younger kids. It’s a fun team to be around. They come to practice every day and just keep getting better and better.”
Williamstown started two freshmen – Makala Baker and Angela Oliveto – and three sophomores – Sarah Nasatka, Olivia McMaster and Madison Schill – in Monday’s game.
Nasatka, put the Braves on the scoreboard just under 10 minutes into the game as she knocked in a rebound off a shot by Adrianna Cirucci for her second goal of the season.
“It hit off of everybody and the goalie dropped it and I just kept kicking and kicking, and it finally went in,” Nasatka said.
“We put her up top because she has good wheels,” Torcasio said. “I’m just trying to get her to react a little bit more. If she anticipates where the ball is going to go, there aren’t many defenders who are going to be able to keep up with that speed.”
The play leading to Nasatka’s goal started as a corner kick, and the Braves converted another corner into their second goal as junior Jessica Smyrl curved her own kick directly into the net to make it 2-0 with just over 13 minutes left before halftime.
The score could have been more lopsided as the Braves kept the ball in the Highland end for much of the game and repeatedly launched shots toward the Tartan net. But goalie Emily Rossino recorded 11 saves to keep Highland (3-4) close.
Her counterpart, Schill, had to record just one save to earn the shutout for the Braves.
Williamstown’s dynamic start to the season may come as a surprise to some, but not senior captain Lexi White, one of 10 seniors who were recognized in a pre-game ceremony.
“Our coaches have prepared us well, especially with the preseason where, because of COVID, we weren’t able to practice as much,” she said. "We’ve worked so hard and we were ready for this. Honestly, from the start, I had a lot of faith in this team.
“When we started strong (in the loss to Kingsway), I think that was the first step in realizing that we had to go out as a team and work hard. I think we’ve performed just like we’re supposed to.”
Although Tri-Co isn’t awarding division titles because of COVID this season, the Braves are aware of how they’re doing against their Royal Division foes. Although they lost to Kingsway, they’ve beaten Timber Creek, Clearview and previously-unbeaten GCIT, 2-1, last week.
They get a rematch with Kingsway on Wednesday.
“This team, unlike some of our teams in the past, is playing at a more consistent level,” Torcasio said. "With COVID, in every pregame talk, we say ‘Ladies, this might be the last one and let’s not leave anything out on the field and tackle each game like it is the last one.’
“We use the motto, ‘Let’s get one percent better each game and practice,’ and I think we’re doing that.”
The significance of all games, especially Monday’s, isn’t lost on White and the other seniors.
“As seniors we were worried that we might not have this game if we kept pushing it back, so we were grateful to have this game and wouldn’t have traded it for anything,” she said.
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Girls soccer: Williamstown dominates Highland, extends win streak to six (VIDEO) - nj.com
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