
By BRIAN CUNNIFF
CapeAtlanticLive.com
WILDWOOD – The Wildwood High School girls soccer team went into its first-round South Jersey Group I playoff game against Cape May Tech Tuesday as a heavy favorite.
The last thing a heavy favorite wants to do is allow the underdog to have hope.
Wildwood took care of that before the contest was a minute old.
Harper Rennie’s goal just 40 seconds into the contest set the tone for the Lady Warriors, who went on to score twice more in the opening half before adding another after the interval in rolling to a comfortable 4-0 victory.
The win moves second-seeded Wildwood (17-2), winners of 13 straight, into a second round game at home against No.7 Collingswood, which was a 5-0 winner over No. 10 Clayton in its opening-round game, The game against Collingswood is currently scheduled for Friday afternoon at 2 but the contest could be moved to another day due to heavy rain in the forecast for the area for Friday.
Wildwood’s state playoff victory came in the program’s first-ever home state playoff game.
Rennie’s opener was her 39th of the season. Cape May Tech did its best against the dynamic freshman, often double-teaming her. But that left space just behind the front line for Julia Ennis to shine. The junior midfielder had a hand in all four Wildwood goals. She assisted Rennie’s tally before netting her own gritty goal to double Wildwood’s lead, Ennis bravely chipping the ball past Cape Tech goalkeeper Camryn James as the two collided at the edge of the six-yard box as each went for the rebound of an initial shot by Rennie.
Later in the opening half, Ennis dug the ball out of the midfield, maneuvered past a defender and sent an excellent ball to the outside to Kaitlynn McLaughlin, who easily slotted home from the left flank.
Ennis completed the scoring with a wonderful strike midway through the second half from the top of the penalty area.
Wildwood goalkeeper Addison Troiano needed to make just two saves to record her 13th shutout of the season, although one came on a point-blank chance with about 10 minutes remaining.
Cape May Tech, the 15th seed in the bracket, finished its season at 6-10-1. The six victories were the program’s most in a season since winning seven times in 2019.
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