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Wall Girls Soccer’s Redemption Tour Continues After Comeback Win on Penalties

Matt Manley|November 9, 2025|Last Updated November 9, 2025

RUMSON — The last time Wall High School goalkeeper Madalyn Peterson stared down a penalty-kick shootout prior to Saturday, her team’s season ended with a loss to eventual NJSIAA Group II champion Point Pleasant Boro in the 2024 Central Jersey Group II championship game in Point Pleasant.

Despite the bad taste of her last shootout experience, Peterson went into the round of penalty kicks Saturday at Rumson-Fair Haven a confident goalkeeper. After a spirited second half by her team, Peterson provided the finishing touches on a win that provided her with a dose redemption while giving the Panthers a chance for even more next week.

Wall rallied from a one-goal halftime deficit and overcame two goals by Duke University commit Jordyn Sullivan to send the game to overtime before Peterson saved two shots during the penalty kick shootout, giving the Crimson Knights a 4-3 victory on kicks to complete a 3-2 win over Rumson in a Shore-vs.-Shore sectional quarterfinal classic in Central Jersey Group II.

“I was surprisingly not nervous,” Peterson said. “I just have to make one save and my teammates are going to make theirs, but I got lucky and I saved two.”

The victory sends Wall — the No. 6 seed in Central Group II — onto the semifinals on Wednesday, when they are scheduled for a rematch with second-seeded Point Boro. Both teams will be aiming for a return trip to the sectional championship match, with Wall carrying the added motivation that comes with enduring a season-ending loss in a shootout to that same opponent one year earlier.

“Last year, it obviously didn’t go my way, but I still have to give myself credit because I did guess the right side,” Peterson recalled about last year’s loss to Point Boro. “That helped me brush it off and just stay calm, which I think really helps. I was honestly way more nervous in the game than I was in the game.”

Before Wall could turn its attention to redemption, it had to figure out how to survive a trip to Rumson and Sullivan, who entered Saturday with 30 goals on the season and added to her total in the semifinal clash with the Crimson Knights. In the 35th minute, senior Maren Kennedy made a run up the left flank and crossed the ball to the middle of the 18-yard box, where Sullivan met it with a leaping, one-timed volley into the left corner of the goal for a 1-0 Bulldogs lead and her 31st goal of the season.

Sullivan was a threat throughout the first half and nearly struck nine minutes prior to her actual goal when she headed a ball on frame that Petersen swatted away with a leaping stab to her left. Wall matched Rumson in possession during the half, but its ventures into the Bulldogs third of the field — which included three first-half corner kicks — came up empty.

“We didn’t put our heads down,” Farrell said. “We liked the way we were playing and we just had to stay together and trust that what we were doing was going to work as long as we kept fighting. Our defense did a great job on (Sullivan) and we were able to finish two opportunities to get to overtime and then Maddy came up big in PK’s.”

In the second half, Wall maintained the majority of possession and turned it into two goals within a span of five minutes. Freshman Gemma Brett settled a cross from senior Madison Miller and slammed in the equalizer in the 55th minute and less than five minutes later, the Crimson Knights took the lead on a finish by Farrell, who slipped behind the Rumson defense to knock in a long free kick from senior Grace Holobinko for a 2-1 Wall lead.

“That ball was perfect,” Farrell said of Holobinko’s service. “Grace is great at making those free kicks dangerous and I don’t think they (Rumson) were ready for that ball to be as dangerous as it was. I saw it all the way and I just had to stay composed and finish.”

Wall’s lead lasted 1:18 of game time, which is all Sullivan needed to draw a trip inside the 18-yard box and bury the ensuing penalty kick that tied the game, 2-2, in the 61st minute. The was Sullivan’s only action of the second half, as she faced a wave of defenders throughout the game, led by senior Sophia Koepping.

“Our objective coming into the game was to not let them score and that was basically the second half for us,” Peterson said. “They basically didn’t have a shot (after halftime). We shut them down, we fought every minute, we go back in transition. We just fought really hard and it showed.”

Neither team summoned a game-winner in regulation and Wall was the lone team to threaten in the 20 minutes of overtime. Farrell skipped a shot off the left post in the 85th minute and a minute later, Brett hammered up the top-half of the crossbar on a 27-yard free kick, then both teams were quiet in their respective attacking thirds over the final 14 minutes of overtime.

In the shootout, Wall made all four of its kicks, with Farrell, Britt, junior Kelsey Hallock and junior Bridget Petillo all converting on consecutive tries. Rumson made its first two attempts behind senior Chase Memmot and junior Ella Peoples, but Peterson turned the tide of the shootout by saving the third Bulldogs attempt with a diving stop to her left.

Sullivan kept Rumson alive by making her kick and after Petillo gave Wall a 4-3 lead through four rounds of kicks, Peterson again came through with a diving stop to her left that officially sent the Crimson Knights to the sectional semifinals.

After coming to the rescue for Wall on Saturday, Peterson put last year’s loss to Point Boro on penalty kicks behind her and now, her and her teammates will attempt to pay back the second-seeded Panthers by beating them in Point Pleasant on Wednesday.

“Redemption from last year — that’s our mindset,” Peterson said. “We’re going to fight hard, just like we did today.”

“We definitely didn’t have the best season compared to last year, but I feel like we’re on the way up now,” Farrell said. “As great as last year was, it didn’t end the way we wanted to, so now we have a chance to go back finish what we started.”

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