True Blue: Shore defeats Verona to Capture Sixth State Championship

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP – For the second year in a row, a Shore Conference team walked away victorious in the final New Jersey girls soccer game of the season. Shore Regional defeated Verona 2-1 to capture the program’s sixth state championship. 

Shore returned to the Group 1 state championship for the first time since 2021 when they defeated Mountain Lakes. It was a long road back for a group of seniors that were eliminated in the Central Jersey Group 1 tournament by rival Point Beach the previous three seasons. With their sixth title, Shore passed Red Bank Catholic for the most state championships among Shore Conference girls soccer programs.

“We worked hard and that is our last game and we made it here and it is a huge achievement,” senior forward Jenna Eichenbaum said. “We have been defeated many times in the past, and our last state championship was in 2021, a very, very long time ago, but it feels amazing to bring it back home and to celebrate it with our whole school.”

From the start of the game, Shore played with unwavering determination signaling that this was their night. Eichenbaum and senior forward Ava Coyle put continuous pressure on the Verona defense and goalkeeper Molly Daggs. Coyle and Eichenbaum created several chances throughout the first-half, but kept getting denied until the 34th minute when they finally broke through.

Freshman midfielder Mia Painchaud sent the ball down the right wing from the center of the field where Eichenbaum raced to it and fired a rocket from outside the 18-yard line to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead. 

The Blue Devils started the second-half much like they played in the first-half, creating several scoring chances and drawing several fouls on the Verona defense. After missing on a free-kick from 20 yards away a few minutes earlier, Eichenbaum was able to put Shore Regional up 2-0 with 28:46 left in regulation. After a Verona foul, Eichenbaum placed a free-kick from 25 yards away in such a perfect spot on the far post that the Verona goalkeeper did not even make an attempt to save the shot.

“I am so happy for her [Eichenbaum] that she ended with a state title,” Shore Regional head coach George Moutis said. “Her sister won three and I am just so happy Jenna got one and it was well deserved. She scored those two amazing goals. Those were messy goals that were beautiful shots that the keeper could not do anything.”

Verona moved the ball well in the first-half, but could not get any clean shots on net against the disciplined Blue Devil defense. Junior Gabby Garofalo led the backline for Shore not only with her play, but also with her vocal leadership. She helped prevent the Verona attack, who had four players score double-digits this season, whether she stepped in front of a player to break up a pass or put her body in front of the ball. 

“Listen, Gabby is rock solid in the back,” Coach Moutis said. “Between Gabby and Syd (Tilton), having that center and defense is key for our team. I will never forget what Bill Parcells said, ‘offense wins games and defense wins championships’.”

Verona was able to cut the deficit in half with 20:19 left to play when senior Emerson Garrett was able to get free on the left wing and fire a low shot to the far post to beat Tilton. Verona had a chance to tie the game with 13:30 left, but an open shot hit the crossbar. Even though Verona was able to apply more pressure after that, the Blue Devil defense did not allow anymore clean shots on the goal. 

“Yesterday we had a little lunch together and we played a song about love,” Coach Moutis said. “They showed the love that they have as a team. That plays as such a huge advantage for a girls team. They support one another and there is nobody looking down on anyone and they are uplifting each other. That is the most important thing we talked about.”

Since the beginning of the Shore Conference Coaches Cup, Shore went on to win 11 out of their final 12 games which included the Coaches Cup Championship. The Blue Devils’ hardest test was when they traveled down to Haddon Township to defeat South Jersey Group 1 winner Haddon Township in a shootout 0-0 (7-6) to advance into the Group 1 state final.

“I am very sentimental,” Eichenbaum said. “It has been a very long four years and I have been waiting for this for so long and it’s an amazing feeling. I am very proud of my team from where we came from in the beginning of the season to now. We just worked so hard to get to where we are now.”