The Montclair High School girls soccer team was looking to continue the run it is on this season.
Heading into the rivalry game at Montclair Kimberley on Monday afternoon, Oct. 3, the Mounties were undefeated at 9-0-1 and looking to add another win to their ledger.
The Cougars wanted to make it back-to-back victories over Montclair. MKA stunned the Mounties, 1-0, last season at Van Brunt Field.
But the tables were turned this season, as Montclair’s offense kept the Cougars’ defense on its heels for most of the game.
In the end the Mounties remained undefeated, with a 3-1 victory at MKA. While Montclair raised its mark to 10-0-1, Montclair Kimberley dropped to 2-6-1 in a roller coaster season.
Montclair received goals from seniors Sonia Neighbors and Sylvia Wurmser along with sophomore Morganne Zinn. The Cougars’ lone goal came from senior Bella Douglass in the second half.
Neighbors said there wasn’t any talk about revenge for the defeat in 2021.
“I wouldn’t say revenge,” she said after the match. “It’s about continuing the way we have played this season and staying undefeated.”
Montclair also wanted to continue staying ahead of MKA. Before falling to the Cougars last year, the Mounties had won the previous four matches against MKA.
“I think it is definitely a rivalry,” Wurmser said. “We definitely wanted to prove our domination.”
Montclair put the pressure on from the opening whistle. The Cougars had some counterattack and MKA goalkeeper Selange Bell kept her team in the game, but it was mainly Montclair in the Cougars end.
“We just wanted to play our game,” Wurmser said.
Finally, Neighbors showed how hot she has been this season offensively by screaming a shot from 25 yards out and putting it to the left of Bell. It made it an even dozen goals on the year for Neighbors, who missed a large chunk of the 2021 season because of an injury.
Her goal was a culmination of pressure on the MKA backline and Bell and handed the Mounties a 1-0 lead heading into intermission.
A halftime talk by Montclair head coach Ashley Hammonds paid dividends in the second half.
To start the final 40 minutes, the Mounties made sure that the Cougars did not get the equalizer. They put more pressure on Bell, as junior Evie Campbell fed Zinn, who pumped a shot by Bell from 25 yards out to give the Mounties a 2-0 lead only three minutes into the second half.
But the Mounties weren’t done yet.
They continued their onslaught two minutes later. This time Wurmser fired a shot from 30 yards out and got it past Bell to give Montclair an impenetrable 3-0 lead. “I was surprised that it went in,” she said.
In the second half Montclair Kimberley had some chances, but too few to catch up to the Montclair juggernaut.
There was a little spark of hope for the Cougars when Douglas ripped a shot by
Montclair goalkeeper Teah Glorie to slice the Mounties’ lead to 3-1 with 24 minutes left in the match.
While the goal gave MKA a spark, it did not last long, as Montclair continued peppering Bell while not allowing the Cougars to keep up a sustained counterattack.
The Mounties’ undefeated streak takes on another challenge on Thursday, Oct. 6, when the team travels to Millburn.
Neighbors and Wurmser are looking to go as far as possible when it comes to the Essex County Tournament and the state tournament. The Mounties lost in the county semifinals on penalty kicks to Livingston and in the state sectional semifinals last year.
“We want to win everything,” Neighbors said. Wurmser added: “We want to go further than the 2020 team.”
In the 2020 COVID-shortened season, the Mounties went 13-0-1 and won the state sectional title. The state playoffs ended at the state sectional round.
Montclair Kimberley has a date in the Prep B quarterfinals at third-seeded Gill St. Bernard’s at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6. The Cougars are the sixth seed in the Prep B tournament.
Last season, the Cougars made it to the Prep B title game, where they fell to Rutgers Prep, 1-0. If they defeat Gill St. Bernard’s, they would travel to second-seeded Newark Academy on Oct. 20. The Cougars lost to Newark Academy, 1-0, in the season opener on Sept. 10.
Montclair Kimberley Girls Soccer Schedule
(Dates and times subject to change, 4 p.m. start except where noted)
Oct. 6 at Gil St. Bernard’s, Prep B quarterfinals, 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 10 Essex County Tournament preliminaries, TBD
Oct. 12 Essex County Tournament first round, TBD
Oct. 14 Essex County Tournament, quarterfinals, TBD
Oct. 18 Essex County Tournament semi-finals, TBD
Oct. 20 Prep B semi-finals, TBD
Oct. 22 Essex County Tournament final, TBD
Oct. 25 at Kent Place
Oct. 28 Prep B Final, TBD
Montclair High School Girls Soccer Schedule
(Dates and times subject to change, 4 p.m. start except where noted)
Oct. 6 at Millburn
Oct. 8 Westfield, 10 a.m.
Oct. 10 at Randolph
Oct. 12 Essex County Tournament first round, TBD
Oct. 14 Essex County Tournament, quarterfinals, TBD
Oct. 18 Essex County Tournament semi-finals, TBD
Oct. 22 Essex County Tournament final, TBD