Notaro Delivers Again as Freehold Township Knocks Off Rival Howell in SCT

HOWELL — When neighboring rivals meet in the postseason, little separates them, and every opportunity becomes that much more important.

After suffering a 2-1 loss to Howell during the regular season, Freehold Township turned the tables on its crosstown rival, earning a 2-1 victory to advance to the quarterfinals of the Shore Conference Tournament, where the Patriots will travel to face third-seeded Point Boro on Saturday.

With the teams deadlocked at 1-1 at halftime, sophomore Morgan Notaro delivered the decisive goal just three minutes into the second half, putting the Patriots ahead for good in the 43rd minute.

Notaro has developed a habit of coming through against the Rebels. Last season, she scored in regulation during the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals against Howell, and earlier this season, she accounted for Freehold Township’s lone goal in the regular-season meeting.

“Morgan (Notaro) seems to find a way to score even when somebody’s on her back, someone’s in front of her and someone’s to her side too,” Freehold Township head coach Dave Patterson said. “She just has a knack for scoring big goals. She and Adele (Moy) both lead through the middle of the field and dictate a lot of the play out there.”

The Patriots wasted little time establishing themselves in the opening half, striking just four minutes into the contest. Sophomore Brielle Gorton delivered a cross to the far post, where freshman Olivia Ramirez was waiting to finish and give Freehold Township an early 1-0 advantage.

“We talk about how the first five minutes are so important in any half,” Patterson said. “We came out with the energy and they (Howell) matched it until the end of the half. We knew that whoever came out with the energy to start the second half was going to be the ones that really took control of the game and that is something we really tried to work on.”

Howell answered in the 22nd minute, capitalizing on one of its limited scoring opportunities. Junior Isabella Farinick collected the ball near midfield and used her speed to race past a Freehold Township defender before slipping a shot inside the far post to even the score.

Outside of Farinick’s equalizer, the Patriots did an effective job containing Howell’s dangerous attacking combination of Farinick and senior Makenzie Memmolo, limiting the Rebels’ opportunities throughout the contest.

“We are crosstown rivals so we understand what they want to do,” Patterson said. “We’ve seen them a lot and they are both fantastic players, obviously. We really tried to limit Bella’s (Farinick) clean touches to start the play because as soon as she gets downhill, as you saw, she’s pretty much impossible to stop. When we limited Bella’s first touches, that helped us take away some opportunities that Makenzie (Memmolo) was trying to get as well. Our defense really dug deep and defended as a unit.”

Close contests have become the norm whenever Freehold Township and Howell meet. Four of their last five matchups have been decided by a single goal, with the Patriots finding ways to avenge regular-season defeats in each of the last two postseasons.

A year ago, Freehold Township rebounded from a regular-season loss to Howell by defeating the Rebels in penalty kicks in the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals to advance to the sectional championship game. This time, the Patriots needed no penalty shootout to settle the score.

“We are both good and both competitive teams,” Notaro said. “We both really wanted it. It’s what it comes down to and every game we play them in, it’s who’s going to fight harder. Who is gonna get that goal? Who’s gonna bring it tonight? Tonight, we definitely showed that we were here and we were here to win.”

The victory also continued Freehold Township’s turnaround following a difficult start to the season. After dropping three of their first four games, the Patriots have posted a 5-2-2 record over their last nine contests, with their only two losses during that stretch coming against the Shore Conference’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams immediately before the tournament.

For Notaro, the improvement has been about more than the team’s performance on the field. She credits the relationships the Patriots have developed and their commitment to working together.

“Off the field we all built connections with each other,” Notaro said. “Not a single person is trying to outdo another person. Everyone wants to work together. On the field we grow together and it is not one person who is growing and one person is not. We work together and no one’s alone.”

Freehold Township will now face another familiar opponent when it travels to take on third-seeded Point Boro in Saturday’s quarterfinal round. The Panthers defeated the Patriots 4-0 in an SCT pod game on Oct. 5, with junior Maddie Renna scoring twice.

Patterson believes that earlier meeting provided valuable lessons about the level of effort and consistency the Patriots will need to compete with one of the Shore Conference’s top teams.

“Point Boro swallowed us up and we just couldn’t get any numbers up against them,” Patterson said. “We are not a team that can take a play off. We’re not a team that can take 5 or 10 minutes or a half off. We just aren’t there yet and we need to make sure that we commit to every ball, to every run, to every play defensively as well as getting numbers up offensively. It is something we have been working a lot towards and we took away from that game. We’re hoping that we are able to give them a better battle.”