Headed into this week, the girl’s varsity soccer were ranked 12th in New Jersey by NJ.com, up two spots from last week’s 14th seed. Also, the Patriots were ranked second overall in the Shore Conference, only behind Red Bank Catholic. Additionally, in the state’s top 85 sophomores on NJ.com, both Gabby Koluch and Kayla Wong were ranked. Congrats to both on this amazing achievement! Sadly, the Patriots lost their unbeaten record on Tuesday night to Middletown South. Ranked 14th in the state going into this week, Middletown South posed the toughest test yet for the Patriots. Tuesday’s game was an exciting contest. Cassidy Corcione and Ryann Leohner put Township up 2-0. This lead was held deep into the second half, when two late strikes from Middletown South’s Jordan Keagy and Meghan Carragher tied the game at 2-2. In overtime, Middletown South scored the golden goal for the victory. However, the Patriots look to rebound from their defeat this Saturday in a rematch with Middletown South. A win could help place them into the top 10 in the state! Good luck Patriots!

In boy’s varsity soccer, 4 players were voted into the state’s top 75 seniors on NJ.com. First was Adam Havens, with 2 goals and 3 assists so far this season. Josh Leonetti also made the list. He scored the winning penalty for Township in the Shore Conference tournament final last season and has one strike thus far this season. Captain, and new all-time points leader for the school, Zach Orrico was also featured. Orrico has a phenomenal goalscoring record this season, netting 4 times in just 9 games. Orrico was last year’s FTHS October athlete of the month. Finally, goalie John Wilhelm took a spot in the top 75. Wilhelm has 23 saves this season and has racked up 5 clean sheets. The boy’s last game was an impressive 2-0 win over Middletown South. Goals were scored by Havens and Hocheiser and assisted by Zettell and Orrico. Whatsmore, Leonetti was named “man of the match”. Congratulations to these fantastic four senior Patriots on their spotlights in the state rankings.  Keep playing hard and good luck with the rest of the season!