Narun Bhutani

The varsity girls soccer team huddling.

The JP Stevens girls soccer team has kicked off yet another successful season this fall. Despite confronting hardships and failures at times, the team’s positive mindset and resilience helped them achieve success. 

The team has undergone more changes than usual. After two seasons, Coach Toporek made the decision to step down from her role as head coach of the team, with Coach Gesualdo replacing her. Additionally, last season, 8 out of 14 players on the roster were seniors, allowing for more opportunities for underclassmen last year, but also putting more pressure on sophomores and freshmen this year. 

Although you could say the Lady Hawks were under pressure, they were also blessed with the privilege of representing the prestigious school soccer team. Freshman Neha Thota embraced this responsibility as she has gone on to prove herself by striking eight goals and one assist over the course of the first 14 games of the season. 

Seniors Cassidy Gesualdo and Tanisha Patel have also had impressive seasons, with the former having five goals and five assists, and the latter boasting 81 saves as the goalie on the team.

Despite the hardships they faced,  the team has preserved and gained success in various games throughout the season. Against North Brunswick High School, the game came down to defensive stops at the end for the Lady Hawks as they were leading for most of the game. A quick goal was scored by junior Naisha Patel in the fourth minute, which was assisted by senior Naina Patti. Again, quickly after halftime this time, Gesualdo scored yet again, assisted by Srinidhi Rajaraman. North Brunswick was able to counter shortly after, making the score 2-1. A good defensive game helped the Lady Hawks escape with a 2-1 victory!

Their next win came against Middlesex, and as discussed, took place at the “Soccer for A Cause Festival.” In the 97th minute, the second overtime period, Gesualdo was yet again able to come up big, with a clutch goal to propel the Lady Hawks to victory. 

A quick turnaround, only 4 days later, had the Lady Hawks playing against division rivals South Brunswick, in their territory. These factors did not deter the Lady Hawks, as seniors Cassidy Gesualdo and Naina Patti came up big, with one goal, one assist, and two goals, respectively. Senior Maya Lipman also made her mark on the game, as she assisted one of three goals scored. These three seniors were able to crush South Brunswick, helping us gain a 3-0 victory. 

Unfortunately, the Lady Hawks were eliminated from both the GMC tournament and the NJSIAA tournaments.  However, this season was able to establish a building block for seasons to come. The Lady Hawks hope to attain Coach Gesualdo as a long-term coach, who will be able to assist and train the underclassmen who have shown so much promise throughout the season to improve in future seasons.