Metuchen girls soccer goes 2-0-1 last week Team looks to build momentum leading up to state tourney BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer After a pair of wins and a classic battle with Bishop Ahr that ended in a 0-0 tie last week, the Metuchen High School girls soccer team improved to 8-3-1 on the season. The Bulldogs opened the week with a 3- 1 win over Pt. Pleasant Beach. Lindsey Peragallo netted two scores and teammate Kamilia Lapkiewicz added another to give the Dogs their seventh win of the season. "After we straightened out our formation we've just been going with the flow," Metuchen head coach Val Gazda said. "We'd really prefer to have home field advantage in the state tournament so we'll have to take care of business the next couple of weeks." Metuchen followed the win over Pt. Pleasant Beach with its first tie of the season against Bishop Ahr. With first-string goalkeeper Caitlin Walker still sidelined with an injury, replacement Valentina Gordon came through in dramatic fashion to preserve the tie. "Valentina made some awesome saves," Gazda said. "It really was a fantastic game. It was the type of game you don't want to see anybody lose." The team remained mentally focused after the Bishop Ahr meeting to defeat JFK 2-0 to close out the week. Peragallo and Abby Dingle provided the scores. "We were able to net goals early in both halves," Gazda said. "That kept the pressure on and we were never really threatened. We're really trying to buckle down and get the wins we feel we should as we get further into the season." As awesome as Gordon was in the net against Bishop Ahr, her defense was against JFK as the Mustangs could not muster a single shot on goals the entire game. Metuchen will look to stay on its hot streak with games scheduled against Spotswood and South River this week. While the team has previously beaten South River, it suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Spotswood by a 4-2 score. "We played Spotswood the first day of school and we were missing not just our No. 1 keeper in Caitlin Walker but our No. 1 sweeper in Hannah Thomas as well when she went down with a separated shoulder," Gazda said. "I think that cost us a little and we're looking forward to the opportunity of avenging that loss." This time around the Bulldogs may see a return to the field of Thomas and Walker. "I'm expecting Caitlin to be back very soon," Gazda said. "She should be on the field near the end of the week. Whether she's back in goal or on the field remains to be seen. We're very happy with Valentina's performance in goal. She's made some huge saves for us." With the state tournament cut-off date looming around the corner, Gazda is looking for her team to make a strong case for a high seed. "We have a full two weeks before the cut-off date and we want to play at a high level the next two weeks," she said. "We've grown accustomed to playing of our turf field and we feel it does give us an advantage. We'd like to play at home in the state tournament."