VIDEO, PHOTOS: Middle earns playoff victory behind strong second half

Posted: October 26th 2023

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – Olivia Sgrignioli helped make sure she and her teammates on the Middle Township High School girls soccer team didn’t lose their final home game of the season.

Sgrignioli’s tally 10 minutes into the second half opened the scoring and Middle went on to score twice more in the final 10 minutes to put away Cedar Creek in an opening-round South Jersey Group II playoff game Thursday.

“Such a big goal,” Middle coach Mike Hickman said of Sgrignioli’s tally. “For the point she walks on the field until the game she works very hard. I’m very happy for her and proud of her. She and her sister (Sophia), they’ve been our leaders all year.”

Middle (8-6-2), the seventh seed in the tournament, controlled the flow of play for the entire second half. No. 10 Cedar Creek (8-8-1) never got a good shot on goal over the final 40 minutes. Hickman credited his teams’ fitness over the full 80 minutes.

“It’s one of the things we worked on,” he said. “We knew we were going to be in a very, very good division so we knew we needed to work on our fitness. We’re probably in the best shape we’ve been in in years. The kids have worked hard from all the way back on July 5 to now. They’re in great shape and it showed today.”

Gracie Repici added the second goal by following the rebound of her own shot, before Keily Sanchez scored a wonderful goal on a left-footed shot from the top of the penalty area that found the upper 90 inside the right post.

Mackenzie Palek recorded the shutout in goal for Middle.

The win moves Middle into a second-round game at second-seeded Seneca on Monday. Seneca was an 8-0 winner over Pleasantville in its first-round game. Middle lost to Seneca at home in the first round of the state playoffs last season.

“We’ll do a little scouting and go from there,” Hickman said. “They’re a great team. They came here and beat us last year. Hopefully, we can go up there and figure out a way to do the same thing.”