Freshman Morano leads Eastern to final
The forward's hat trick provided the firepower as the Vikings put away Shawnee, 4-1.
At this time last year, Kasey Morano was playing field hockey for her middle school team in Hammonton.
Thursday at Robbinsville, the Eastern freshman forward scored a hat trick to lead the Vikings to a 4-1 victory over Shawnee in a Group 4 state semifinal.
Eastern, the No. 1 seed in South Jersey Group 4, is scheduled to play Bridgewater-Raritan at 10 a.m. Sunday at Toms River East for the state championship. Bridgewater-Raritan defeated Montclair, 3-1, in the other semifinal. The undefeated Vikings, who are 24-0 with 18 shutouts, will aim for their 12th consecutive state crown.
Shawnee, the top seed in Central Jersey Group 4, finished 19-3, with two of those losses coming against Eastern.
"That was my first [three-goal game]," Morano said. "We go to the state finals, and that's great.
"I was nervous at the beginning of the season, but all the girls push each other and work really great together."
They worked as one against Shawnee, which fell to the Vikings, 4-0, the first time they met on Oct. 14. Eastern's team defense was so strong that the Renegades fired only four shots in the first half, one of which was on Eastern goalkeeper Alana Barry, as the Vikings took a 3-0 lead into intermission.
Eastern's coordinated defense was up to the challenge presented by Shawnee's speedy forwards, stripping them of the ball and forcing the action the other way. In all, Eastern had 14 shots and 18 corners. Shawnee had 14 shots and six corners.
Morano's first goal was a tip-in off a shot by Carly Celkos for a 1-0 lead 9 minutes, 50 seconds into the action. It took only 26 more seconds for the ninth grader to take a feed from senior forward Cori Allen and sweep the ball past Shawnee goalie Elina Pereira for a 2-0 advantage.
Morano's third goal came 6:47 into the second half for a 4-0 lead, with a tip-in off a shot by junior midfielder Julia Osisek. Jade Dixon, another freshman, had pumped in the third goal for Eastern on an assist by Allen.
"I think all of my freshmen were fantastic. All four goals were scored by freshmen," Eastern coach Danyle Heilig said. "The three that start for us [including midfielder Karlee Spirit] are phenomenal."
Shawnee's Alexis Newman prevented a shutout when she took a rebound off Barry and flicked the ball into the cage with 2:38 left in the game.
"It [the goal] was really important, not only for the seniors but for our underclassmen to show that you never give up," said Newman, a senior attack. "You play till the fat lady sings or the bell rings."
Shawnee 0 1 – 1
Eastern 3 1 – 4
Goals: S–Alexis Newman; E–Kasey Morano 3, Jade Dixon.
Saves: S–Elina Pereira 7; E–Alana Barry 6.