Houlihan’s Late Goal Lifts No. 3 Red Bank Catholic Past No. 2 Howell

RED BANK – Two familiar rivals faced off to open their seasons, each looking to gain an early edge in one of the toughest divisions in the state, Class A North.

For the second straight year, No. 3 Red Bank Catholic (1-0, 1-0) and No. 2 Howell (0-1, 0-1) battled to a 2-1 final. But unlike last season, when Howell came out on top, the Caseys scored a second-half goal to get the victory, setting the tone for the 2026 season.

Senior Kaegan Houlihan broke the 1-1 tie after taking a pass from junior Bella Vaccaro and blasting past a lunging Quinn Merkel in goal with 14:49 left in the game. 

RBC created more opportunities in the second half than in the first. Senior Nina Bicej, who missed last season due to injury, shot the ball from 20 yards away to the far post, but Merkel was able to make a diving save. Merkel followed that with another save on the rebound seconds later.

“He (Coach Brian Blue) told us to stop playing with the ball in the back,” Heidi Wierman said. “We were being reckless at the end of the half. We didn’t need to be doing all that, and we needed to play straightforward and get the ball up the field.”

The Rebels applied a ton of pressure on the RBC defense for the last 12 minutes of the first half. After hitting a shot just over the crossbar, Makenzie Memmolo scored the equalizer for Howell with 4:10 left off a pass from Isabella Farinick.

Howell had a chance to take the lead in the closing minute of the half, but Wierman made one of several difficult saves by knocking the ball over the crossbar. The Rebels rushed to get the corner kick off before the horn, but the RBC defense was able to clear the ball as time expired.

“We lost our composure, but I said to them we have the depth that nobody should be able to outwork us, especially late in the half,” RBC head coach Brian Blue said. “Those are the times we should be taking over. We have the depth, and I like to use it, and we should be taking over the last five minutes of the half every time.”

Any team that goes up against Howell knows the defense has to be on their game with the combination of Memmolo and Farinick, and the Casey defense was up to the task. Memmolo set the all-time scoring record for goals and assists last season, finishing with 21 goals and 15 assists on the season, while Farinick added 15 goals and 10 assists. Senior Samantha Mierzwiak and junior Izzy Fasano kept the RBC back line organized throughout the game, preventing Memmolo from getting much space.

“We talked about it for over a week that they have two really good threats,” Blue said. “You are not going to completely stop her (Memmolo), but you have to limit the type of opportunities she gets. Getting her further away from the goal, keeping her facing away from the goal, and making somebody else beat you. The defense did a really good job staying disciplined and keeping our shape.”

Howell tried to close out the second half just like the first, applying pressure to the Casey defense and Wierman. The Rebels’ best chance to tie the game came with nine minutes left after RBC turned the ball over near midfield. Memmolo was able to get space and ran a give-and-go with Farinick to get an open look on net, but Wierman made a diving save toward the near post to knock the ball out of the net.

“Her (Wierman) and the entire back line are huge, but her confidence has grown over the last two years,” Blue said. “She has a lot of time in big games, and she has had some very good moments, and now these big games don’t get to her at all.”

Senior Mia Cupo gave the Caseys an early 1-0 lead in the 13th minute from 25 yards out after receiving a pass from sophomore Molly Denver.

The question entering the 2026 season for RBC, with the graduation of Paige Foye and the injury to Grace Pauwels, was where the goals would come from. Foye, who is playing at the University of Maryland, led the team in scoring the last two seasons. Pauwels, who will miss the season due to an injury, finished third as a sophomore last season with seven goals.

RBC has depth, with nine players from last season’s roster who scored a goal. Denver finished her rookie season with eight goals, the most among returning players.

“We said we were going to need to do that,” Blue said. “You lose a big goal scorer in Paige (Foye), so we got to get that back by committee and everybody chipping in. Having two different goal scorers, two different players with assists is a good start. We can’t rely on one person. I think it is going to make us a little bit tougher to defend, where you can’t just single out one person. We can have multiple threats going forward.”