Shore Conference Tournament Championship: Girls Soccer Preview

Shore Conference Tournament Championship Preview 

 

#10 Trinity Hall Monarchs vs #1 Manalapan Braves 

 

Date: 10/25/2025

Location: Summerfield Elementary School, Neptune, NJ

Time: 6 p.m.

 

Trinity Hall (16-2-2):

Head Coach: Patrick Trombetta

Path to the Final:

First Round: 2-0 win over (23) Red Bank Regional

Second Round: 1-0 win over (7) Wall

Quarterfinal Round: 0-0 (3-0 PKS) over (2) Central

Semifinal Round: 1-0 over (3) Howell

Projected Starting Line-up:

Goalkeeper- Emily Venezia, Sr.

Defender – Ryann Russo, Fr.

Defender – Ryane Greene, Fr.

Defender – Sloane Biggie, Fr.

Defender – Elizabeth Chiles, Sr.

Defender – Lily Guli, So.

Midfielder – Grace Greene, Jr.

Midfielder – Kaylee Davis, So.

Midfielder – Ryan Raynor, Sr.

Midfielder – Caroline Ferguson, Sr.

Forward – Kailyn Fitzgerald, Jr.

Off the Bench:

Bette Kane, Fr.

Danielle Connors, Jr.

Maeve Bradley, Jr.

Eva Shaughessy, So.

 

Keys to Victory:

Trinity Hall has what most high school teams lack in every sport. Depth. Postseason is when coaches shorten the bench and in soccer it is a big advantage if you have two players that can come in and provide quality minutes, the Monarchs have four where you will not see a dip in play. 

The Monarchs are one of three teams to not allow double digit goals against them this season. One of the other teams is Manalapan. Coach Trombetta has never been shy in starting freshmen, he does it every season. This year he has three freshmen starting on the backline in front of veteran Emily Venezia in goal. Each defender brings a unique quality that makes them a strong unit.

Venezia would have been on the All-Shore watchlist a year ago for goalies, but she missed the season due to an injury. Venezia is back for her final season and has shown the Shore Conference what she can do with 14 shutouts. She has not allowed a single goal in the postseason. 

In years past, the Monarchs struggled to finish putting the ball in the net with only one reliable goal scorer. Not this season. Trinity Hall has multiple players who can finish and have a Shore Conference high 64 goals this season. Junior Kailyn Fitzgerald leads the team with 14 goals including the game winner against Wall in the second round. Senior Caroline Ferguson can do it all on offense with 6 goals and 8 assists. She had the game winner against Howell in the semifinal.

X-Factor:

Kaylee Davis – Davis became one of Trinity Hall’s top playmakers on the offensive side of the field in her second high school season. She is currently second in scoring with 10 goals and has 6 assists. Her ability to create scoring chances gives Coach Trombetta options to move Raynor and Greene around the field if needed. 

 

Manalapan (15-0):

 

Head Coach: John Rogers

Path to the Final

First Round: Bye

Second Round: 2-1 win over (16) Manasquan

Quarterfinal Round: 5-0 win over (9) Middletown South

Semifinal Round: 2-1 win over (13) Rumson-Fair Haven

Projected Starting Line-up

Goalkeeper – Aryanna Lake, Jr.

Defender – Callie Butash, Sr.

Defender – Constantina Papadakis, Sr.

Defender – Devan Rosenzweig, Jr. 

Defender – Sonya Hofmann, Sr.

Midfielder – Lyla Ottenheimer, Sr. 

Midfielder – Daniella Butash, Sr.

Midfielder – Guilianna Naletilic, Sr. 

Midfielder –  Kayla Sasso, Jr.

Forward – Vanessa Salinas, Jr.

Forward – Olivia Ziobro, Sr. 

Off the Bench:

Addison Krauss, So.

Erica Williams, Jr.

Zina Hammarstrom, Sr.

Keys to Victory:

Play their game. Manalapan has been the top ranked team in the Shore Conference since the preseason for a reason. Every player returned from a team that lost in penalty kicks in the Central Jersey Group 4 final last year. The Braves check off every box this season: leadership, experience, scoring, a midfield, a strong defensive backline and a confident goalie. 

Manalapan had their backs against the wall in the semifinal when they trailed for the first time all season. Rumson held on to the lead for 49 minutes until Manalapan scored the equalizer. For the first time, the Braves faced adversity and they showed they are capable of responding.

Patience. The 17 shutouts Trinity Hall has this season is for a reason. The Monarchs have an experienced goalie and strong backline. The Braves will need to rely on experience and remain patient as they try to become the first team to score on Trinity Hall in the Shore Conference Tournament this season. Manalapan has a lot of weapons who can finish with Butash, Sasso, Salinas and Ziobro. Can they wear down the young Trinity Hall defense?

Unlike Trinity Hall’s very young defense, Manalapan has a very experienced defense. The Braves start three seniors and a junior in Butash, Hofmann, Papasakis and Rosenzweig and they have only conceded 9 goals in a very hard Class A North division. 

X-Factor

Aryanna Lake – The junior goalie took over the starting role last season and had big shoes to fill with the graduation of Emma Guidotti and transfer of Leila Shaw. With such a strong 10 players in front of her, Lake does not get recognized for what she brings in goal. She showed she is one the Shore Conference’s best in the SCT semifinal when she made a game-saving save with 32 minutes to keep the deficit 1-0. 

 

Prediction

Manalapan is one of the very few teams that do not have any weaknesses on the field. If there is a team that can check off as many boxes as Manalapan though, it might be Trinity Hall. The Monarchs also do not have any weaknesses to exploit on the field. This is going to come down to the wire, but this is Manalapan’s season.

 

Manalapan 1-0 victory with a very late second-half goal