Teams use Stockton tournament as a “warm-up” for the season

The atmosphere at Stockton University’s annual preseason tournament thrilled Darby Chhabria and Madison Schultz and helped the two seniors and their Cherry Hill East teammates go home happy.

Chhabria scored the game-winning goal to lead the Cougars to the title with a 4-2 shootout win over Haddon Heights. The game was scoreless after 45 minutes of regulation time. Schultz saved two shots in the shootout and was very impressive all day.

Schultz also made key saves in the Cougars’ semifinal win over Egg Harbor Township, a game that also went to penalties.

Twelve girls’ soccer teams participated in the tournament, which was held at the Ospreys’ sports fields on Pomona Road. The boys’ soccer tournament, which includes 24 teams, was scheduled for Sunday.

“I think it’s a great preparation for us for the season,” Chhabria said. “We’re expecting a really great year from us, so this is a really great start. … We’re really excited for the season and it should be great. We’re both seniors, so we hope to finish off with a great year.”

“You never know how the season is going to go, but after this tournament we know how our season should go,” she said. “This (tournament) is great to see where we stand compared to other real teams. In the summer league, sometimes not everyone is there. It was good to have our whole team here and see where we stand.”

The tournament on Saturday consisted of three groups of four teams each.

Absegami, Cherry Hill East (which was split into two teams), Vineland and Gateway Regional were in one group. EHT, the other Cherry Hill East team, Southern Regional and Cumberland Regional were grouped together. The final group consisted of Haddon Heights, Mainland Regional, Cedar Creek and Sterling.

Each team played three games in the group stage. The winner of each group and the best second-place team advanced to the semifinals – EHT, Southern, Haddon Heights and Cherry Hill East.

The games lasted 30 or 45 minutes.

“It’s a great preparation,” said Cedar Creek coach Rick Meana. “It’s a great way to see what we can do and for the girls to see where they are in their preseason. It’s a great event. There were no injuries and I think the girls got a good amount of reps in.”

“It’s all about reps and experience and how many minutes you get,” Meana said, adding that his team is young this season so Saturday’s event was helpful.

Athletes from Stockton’s women’s team helped out.

“It’s an exciting day and we get to see a lot of local kids play,” said Nick Juengert, coach of the Stockton women’s soccer team who officiated Saturday’s tournament. “It actually helps with recruiting. A lot of kids get to see the campus while they’re here. It’s an all-around fun day for everyone.”

EHT reached the semifinals but lost to Cherry Hill East on penalties. The score was 1-1 after 30 minutes of regulation time. The Eagles lost on penalties 4-2.

EHT achieved a result of 2:1 in the group match.

“We fought hard until the end and everything just happens,” said EHT midfielder Aniyah Parker, a first-team Press All Star last season. “Cherry Hill is a great team. They deserved to win. It was, honestly, a game that anyone could win.”

But she enjoyed the competition before the real season starts.

“I love it,” Parker said. “I think it was nice because we lost some girls (to graduation), so it was nice to feel ourselves and see ourselves playing and getting momentum with our team.”

EHT coach Pete Lambert said he had the opportunity to see many freshmen and underclassmen compete against each other in a real game.

“It’s tough going to shootouts and the girls are devastated, but we’ll wake up tomorrow and it’ll be a new day,” he said. “This gives us coaches a chance to see the potential of the girls who are trying to prove themselves here.”

Lambert has coached the Eagles boys team for the past 19 seasons. This season he takes over from Christian Wiech. EHT reached the final of the Cape Atlantic League last season.

“I thought it would be a new challenge,” Lambert said. “A new chapter. And so far it’s been great. The girls are working hard and super positive.”

“To come here and fight to the semi-finals against some top-class teams shows a lot of character. It should be an exciting year.”

Mainland achieved a score of 2-1 in group play. The Mustangs beat Cedar Creek 2-0 in their final game.

Bill Horner, Mainland’s new coach, said Saturday’s event helped him with his preseason analysis and in deciding who will start. Mainland is a young team with only two senior players.

“We have a lot of other practice games as well,” Horner said. “We’re in the process of evaluating the tournament. I thought this tournament was great because you get to play against teams you don’t normally see and you get to see what South Jersey has to offer. It’s great preparation.”

Mainland first-team midfielder Izzy Moscola said the games are not too serious because “it’s preparation, but it’s still good to compete against other teams.”

“I love competing against other teams instead of competing against each other in practice because it’s really different when you’re playing against people you haven’t seen before,” she said. “It’s exciting to see how we stack up against other competitors for the season.”

In the game against Mainland, Cedar Creek’s Natalie Eifert made some great saves, including one on a corner kick. The Mustangs largely controlled time of possession and Eifert was faced with many shots.

“It was tough out there, but it was training for us to prepare for our practice games,” said the junior. “We were able to learn a lot from it, but overall we had a good result. I think it was a good idea to bring all the teams together to experience a little competition before the season starts.”