Ahr girls soccer finishes with 17-5 mark
BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer
Led by the explosive firepower of Alyssa Welsh, the Bishop Ahr High School girls soccer team finished the season 17-5 and 10-2 in the Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division.

PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Above: The Bishop Ahr girls soccer team celebrates with Alyssa Welsh (second from left) during a game earlier this season. Left: Emily Tesoriero (r) battles Metuchen's Sara Corson during Ahr's 3-2 victory in October. The team made it to the finals of the GMC tourney, losing to East Brunswick.

Welsh's 34 goals led all county players and earned her All-Division and All-Conference honors. The junior captain also finished the year with nine assists.

"Alyssa has excellent ball skills and a really nice shot," Bishop Ahr head coach James Tavormina said. "She's also an unselfish player who will pass the ball even if she has a shot on goal. She's very difficult to mark, and not many teams were able to stop her this season."

With Welsh finding the net with such great frequency, the Trojans were able to make a run to the finals at this year's GMC Tournament. Bishop Ahr opened the tournament with a 4-3 win over Blue Division rival Spotswood. Spotswood ended up winning the division, but lost two of its three meetings with the Trojans this season.

"We gave Spotswood its only division loss and played them well in all three games," Tavormina said. "Knocking them out of the county tournament in the first round got us on a roll, and we were able to knock off Sayreville and South Brunswick before losing a close game to East Brunswick in the finals."

Senior goalkeeper Caitlin Hummel recorded two shutouts in the GMC Tournament and allowed just 18 goals in 21 games. Like Welsh, Hummel garnered All- Division and All-Conference honors.

"Caitlin is the best in the county," Tavormina said. "We competed against several Red and White Division teams, and she was excellent. She was the only goalkeeper from either the Blue or Gold division to be named to the All-Conference team."

Katie Metrokotsas and Lauren Zastrow were also outstanding defensively. Metrokotsas also finished the season with seven goals and five assists.

"Katie is an excellent defensive midfielder," Tavormina said. "She was the glue that held the midfield together, and she was someone we could always count on to play hard."

Zastrow was the team's sweeper and helped shut down the opposition in front of Hummel.

"Lauren commanded my back line and did a really nice job," Tavormina said. "Lauren and Katie were both All-Division players."

The Trojans also discovered another strong scoring threat in freshman Kerriann Cahilane. Cahilane joined the varsity lineup for the third game of the season and never left. She finished the season with 12 goals and 10 assists and complemented Welsh's offensive skills rather well.

Along with Hummel, Bishop Ahr will lose Ariana Passariello, Emily Tesoriero, Kaitlin Gaston, Michelle Penny and Lindsay Brown to graduation.

Hummel leaves big shoes to fill, but the team should not lack goal-scoring capabilities with Welsh and Cahilane, with 46 goals, set to return in 2009.

In just his first year as head coach, Tavormina appears to have the team headed in the right direction. Tavormina finished his first season with the well-deserved honors of being named Blue Division and GMC Coach of the Year.