Washington Twp. girls lose player to national team - and still plan to contend

Natasha Munro was born in Canada with soccer in her blood. Here parents both played the sport in college. And by the time she moved to the United States when she was a toddler, it was already a part of who she was.

"I've been playing," she said, "pretty much since I've been able to walk."

That part of the story, at least, is common among Munro's teammates on the Washington Township girls' soccer team. The Minutemaids are a team of soccer lifers who live and breathe the sport year-round.

It's the biggest reason why there was such calm around the team in April when their superstar senior, Emily Gray, announced that she was forgoing her final year of high school soccer to play for the U-19 women's national team.

Gray would have been an early favorite for player of the year in South Jersey girls' soccer. She was one of the most prolific scorers and talented playmakers in the state and, evidently, the country.

Just from a team chemistry standpoint, removing Gray from Washington Township would appear to change everything. Removing her talent, at least if you're looking at it from a distance, could be crushing.

But that's not how the team sees it.

"I say this in a completely positive way: Emily was obviously a huge part of our team, but she wasn't everything," Munro said. "We're so happy for Emily. We understand why she had to take advantage of this opportunity.  And we know that means our roles are going to change and other players are going to have to step up.

"But we know we can do it."

Minus Gray, Washington Township still returns 16 letter winners from a team that finished 16-4-4, was runner-up in the Coaches Tournament and grabbed a share of the Olympic Conference American Division title last season — in perennially New Jersey's toughest division.

"Watching the team right now, it looks like we're ready to pick up right where we left off," said head coach Bill Alvaro. "The girls are excited. They've been playing together for a couple years now and they're ready to go."

Munro, a speedy George Washington recruit, is one of the players fully capable of picking up where Gray left off.
She recorded 11 goals and eight assists last year as a sophomore despite missing three games with injury and playing a grueling regular-season slate.

This year, she's taking over Gray's center midfield position, although she'll still see her share of time as a striker. Ultimately, like Gray, she's a playmaker, and that's what she'll be counted on to do.

"I'm definitely trying to take on some of [Gray's] leadership qualities — because she was our leader," Munro said. "I want to help make sure everyone is where they need and I want to be that playmaker for our team."

But Munro is far from the only playmaker on her team. Alvaro pointed to highly touted freshman Amanda Attanasi as someone with elite skill who should make an immediate contribution.

Senior midfielders Rachel Keller and Alexa Liss are back and senior Breana Winder returns to lead the team's back line. The Minutemaids' motto this year is "finish what we start," Alvaro said.

Last year was a banner year, sure. They almost won the Coach's Tournament. They almost won the division outright.

This year, they say, they're ready to remove the "almost." And they're confident they have the players to do it.

"We're pretty confident," Munro said. "We're ready to do even better than we did last year."