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    • Michaela Little’s two goals lift Lawrence girls soccer to first sectional semifinal in 24 years – Trentonian
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    Michaela Little’s two goals lift Lawrence girls soccer to first sectional semifinal in 24 years – Trentonian

    Umito Posted on

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    Lawrence’s Michaela Little, right, attempts to pass Freehold Borough’s Makayla Sekerka, left, during a Central Group III quarterfinal girls soccer game Thursday afternoon in Lawrence Township. (Kyle Franko/Trentonian Photo)

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    Lawrence Township. — It’s been a long time since Lawrence High girls soccer was this late in the playoffs, but led by Michaela Little in the scoring form of her career, it found another gear in the Central Jersey Group playoffs III.

    Little scored goals 19 and 20 in the second half and the fifth-seeded Cardinals preserved their 10th clean sheet by shutting out 13th-seeded Freehold Borough 2-0 on Thursday afternoon to reach the semifinals section for the first time in 24 years.

    “Now that states have come in, we’ve been hit with so much energy,” Little said. “We want to stay, we want to survive and we love our team so much. We want to stay as long as possible. »

    Lawrence (12-8) had a roller coaster campaign in which it lost starting center forward Amber Wooding to a knee injury 10 minutes into the season, still took a started 5-0, but then lost a number of nail-biters in the CVC Colonial Division before being hit with another blow when star midfielder Becca Boggs was ruled out this week due to a disease.

    It’s… a lot.

    Still, Little helped the Cardinals manage it all with his scoring.

    “Without them to play with, it kind of changes the way of being a scorer and the way we play offensively,” Little said. “I have to take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself.”

    This means enhancing the settings where Little excels. She is the CVC’s top scorer and broke the deadlock 15 minutes into the second half when she powered home a goal from the back post.

    The second goal seven minutes later was almost a carbon copy – Ava Donnelly played provider on both, which usually falls to CVC assist leader Boggs – except Little used her midsection to bundle this one.

    “It’s just natural,” the Shenandoah University-bound senior said. “I have some height, and it’s like you just put your head on the ball.”

    “Put it near her because she’ll always have her head on it,” Donnelly said. “She had an incredible season and she has really improved this year. She has been a great leader and she is doing wonderfully.

    Little’s previous career high was 10 goals as a sophomore. She had just four last season as a junior, although she played a deeper role, but injuries created a void at the top that coach Emily Palombo needed to fill.

    But 20 goals?

    “I don’t know if I would ever think about 20 because I’ve never seen a player do that,” Palombo said. “I’m really happy for her and she worked really hard for this.”

    Lawrence earned a date with top-seeded Hopewell Valley, a 6-1 winner over West Windsor North in the quarterfinals, in Monday’s semifinals. The Bulldogs won the regular season meeting, 1-0.

    “It’s amazing to get to this point at this point in the season,” Donnelly said. “Everyone has worked really hard to get here and the bond within the team is incredible. We’re all so close and this is the best team I think I’ve been on in years.

    Fully owned district (5-13-1) 0 0 — 0

    Laurent (12-8) 0 2 — 2

    Goals: Small 2 (L). Donnelly 2 (left). Hits: 2 (FB). 16(L). Saves: Livingston 8 (FB). Kachurak 2 (L).

    Originally published:

    Umito
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