BY KAYLEE WEINGARTEN
On Friday, October 31, the girls soccer team won the GMC tournament for the first time in school history. After two overtimes, the team secured the win with a shoot-out.
After both teams remained scoreless through regulation and two overtimes, Nicole Nolan, Ariana Mineo, Olivia Cusick, and Sofia Riedinger made their penalty kicks in the shootout, and Jessica Lane made a key save to give the Knights the advantage. “Nicole Nolan set the tone,” said coach Kimberly Hopping.
The championship game ended a seven-game winning streak for Spotswood. “It felt amazing considering losing last year at that last minute of the final and coming back this year,” said sophomore goalie Jessica Lane, who has made 131 saves this season.
This monumental success included defeating rival East Brunswick and second-seeded Metuchen. “Old Bridge soccer as a whole has been working so hard for this for so many years and has been in the finals so many times with the opposite outcome,” said junior Alexa Magrino, who has played for the team since her freshman year. “It felt amazing to bring that plaque home.”
After losing to Monroe in the finals last year, the team was determined to continue their current eight-game win streak. “After coming up short last year, our team had very high hopes for this year’s outcome,” said Lane, who surrendered just one goal across the four tournament games.
The girls outscored their opponents 14-1 in the tournament, which demonstrates the strength of both the offense and the defense. “I’m so glad that this team and set of coaches has won it, and that we are the ones that are going to be remembered as the first ones to do it,” said Magrino. “I know that it means so much to every single one of us, especially our seniors.”
As they worked toward their 16-2-1 record, one regular season game stood out the most. “I think the most memorable win was our 3-0 win over Monroe,” said Magrino, who scored two goals in the match. “This game specifically showed how great our team’s mentality is, and it felt really good to beat them so bad after our long rivalry.”
Since Monroe had won the GMC Tournament the past two year, the victory gave the girls confidence that they could beat anyone. “The team is most proud of our win against Monroe because last year we lost to them in the GMC finals,” said Riedinger, who leads the team with 14 goals this season. “We proved that we were the better team.”
This team will go down in Old Bridge history, as the first ever to win the Greater Middlesex Conference. Go support the team at 2 pm today at Geick Park in the first round of the State Tournament against New Brunswick. “We’re more than just a team, we’re family,” said Lane. “This team is leaving behind a legacy.”
Posted on 11/5/25
Photos by Kaylee Weingarten
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