Carretero makes 28 saves

as Lady Knights, Vernon tie

     ROCKAWAY - Jamie Bertoli scored the only goal of the game to lead Morris Hills to a 1-0 victory over Boonton in a high school girls soccer game played at Boonton on Friday, Oct. 9.
     Bertoli scored her goal in the second half after taking a pass from Kerry Rogers.
     Lady Knights' goalie Samantha Carretero made six stops to register the shutout while her teammates pounded the Boonton goal with 28 shots during the game.
     The win gave Morris Hills a 4-7 record; Boonton is 2-9.

Lady Knights blanked by Mt. Olive
      ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills girls soccer team fell to 3-7 on the season with a 2-0 loss to Mount Olive in a game played at Mount Olive on Wednesday, Oct. 7.
      Morris Hills keeper Samantha Carretero finished the game with 10 saves while her teammates put only six shots on Kat Clint, who turned away all six shots she faced for her fourth shutout of the season for Mount Olive (7-3).

Hills falls to Par Hills in OT, 1-0
     ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills and Parsippany Hills high school girls soccer teams battled through two halves of scoreless play before Par Hills won its first game of the season, 1-0, on a goal in the first overtime session in a game played at Morris Hills on Monday, Oct. 5.
     The shots on goal were fairly even with Morris Hills outshooting the visitor, 7-6, but Janelle Vega was able to score for Par Hills and that made the difference in the game.
    Samantha Carretero had five saves for Morris Hills (3-6) while Emily Amaducci stopped seven shots for Parsippany Hills (1-8).

Lady Knights bow to West Morris, 2-0
      ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School girls soccer team went up against the team that was about to be awarded the top-seed in the 2009 Morris County Girls Soccer Tournament on Wednesday (Sept. 30) afternoon and was held to six shots on goal in a 2-0 loss to unbeaten West Morris at West Morris.
      West Morris (6-0-1) got a goal in each half and Lady Highlander goalie Allyson Tank made them stand up with a six-save performance for her shutout.
     Diana Fleischman made five save for Morris Hills, which slipped to 2-5 with the loss. Later, the Lady Knights were seeded No. 17 in the 24-team tournament.
     (For a complete seeding list and tournament schedule, please visit the "MCT Seeds, Skeds" page on this Web site.)

    
Lato scores only goal in 2-1 loss
      ROCKAWAY - Anita Lato scored the only goal of  the game for Morris Hills as the Lady Knights lost a 2-1 high school girls soccer game to High Point at Morris Hills on Saturday, Sept. 26.
     Morris Hills goalie Samantha Carretero finished the game with eight saves; her teammates put 11 shots on the High Point nets.
      The Lady Knights are now 2-4 on the season; High Point is 2-2.

Montville rally beats MH
      ROCKAWAY - Nicole Vazquez' first-half goal gave Morris Hills a 1-0 lead but Montville came back to score two unanswered goals in the second half to beat the Lady Knights, 2-1, in a high school girls soccer match at Montville on Thursday, Sept. 24.
      Morris Hills is now 2-3; the win was Montville's first in five outings.

Morris Hills stops Hopatcong
     ROCKAWAY - Jaimie Bertoli scored a goal and added two assists as Morris Hills stopped Hopatcong, 5-0, in a high school girls soccer game at Rockaway on Monday, Sept. 21.
     Diana Fleischman, Nicole Vazquez, Jen Polanco and Melanie Bertoli also scored goals for the Lady Knights while Aly Berkowitz, Jen Polanco and Nicole Vazquez each had an assist.
     Morris Hills keepers Michelle Churchman and Samantha Carretero combined to make two saves to share the shutout. Morris Hills put 19 shots on the Hopatcong nets.
     The win squared Morris Hills' record at 2-2; Hopatcong is 1-4.

Lady Knights lose to Sparta, 2-1
     ROCKAWAY - Melanie Bertoli got the only goal of the game for Morris Hills as the Lady Knights lost a 2-1 decision to Sparta in a high school girls soccer game played at Hills on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
     Jaimie Bertoli got credit for the assist and goalie Samantha Carretero finished with 14 saves as for Morris Hills (1-2).
     The win was Sparta's first win of the season after opening with two losses.

Lady Knights enter 2009 season
with a 'healthy' dose of optimism

       ROCKAWAY - Morris Hills High School girls soccer coach Dana Schwartz looks at her list of returning players on her 2009 roster and is pleased.
       She is also pleased that the players were in "... great physical shape"  when they reported for their first official workout on Monday, August 17.
       She is also pleased by the fact that all her starters are healthy.
       Make that VERY pleased.
       "Everybody is healthy and in good shape," says Schwartz, whose Lady Knights suffered through a 3-16-1 season last fall. "We certainly had our share of injuries last year ... we had a lot of key players who got hurt and missed a lot of playing time."
       Six players from last year's team graduated this past June with only one of them a bona-fide starter.
       With all but one starter back - and healthy - Schwartz feels good about saying that this year's Lady Knights team " ... should do well" this season.
       "We have a solid group of seniors and a solid group of younger players," Schwartz explains. "If there was an upside to last year, it's that five of our freshman were forced to play a lot of minutes and we feel we're going to benefit from that experience this season.
       "The feeling is that the girls want to make up for last year ... we had tremendous turnouts for our voluntary practice sessions during the summer. They put in their work are now in the best preseason shape I have ever seen on any of my teams."
       Schwartz, who entering her sixth season as head coach after spending four years as an assistant, is quick to give credit to Sergio Benvenuto, a Rockaway Township resident and a youth coach in the township who not only trained the girls over the summer, but worked with them in spring and winter leagues as well.
      The Lady Knights' solid group of seniors is headed by the team's three captains - Anita Lato, Melanie Bertoli and Terry Rogers.
      Lato and Bertoli form a solid defensive backline along  with senior Samantha Barker and sophomore Michelle Mikhno.
      Rogers, junior Frankie Benvenuto and sophomores Jaimie Bertoli and Jen Polanco are the midfielders and senior Nicole Vasquez and sophomores Dana Castellano and Aly Berkowitz rotate in at the two forward spots for the Lady Eagles.
      Senior keeper Samantha Carretero will start with junior Michelle Churchman her backup.
      The first players off the bench are junior midfielder Ally Abrams, senior midfielder Janine Furtado and senior back Sara Polanco, who is the only player on the Knolls injury list for now but is expected to be ready to play soon.
      Schwartz has some promising newcomers on the team who are expected to play both varsity and junior varsity as needed.
      They include freshman back Abby Carlon, sophomore forward Diana Fleischman, sophomore midfielder Alicia Tenreiro, junior back Kelly Stites and junior midfielder Brittany Murphy.
      "The girls are very excited about the new season," Schwartz says. "They certainly put in their work over the off-season and are eager to get started."
      The only real question mark Schwartz sees about the new season is the new opponents the Lady Knights will be facing playing in the newly formed Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC).
      "We don?t really know much about the new teams we'll be facing this fall ... but I guess everybody else is in the same boat," Schwartz explains. "That means a lot of scouting work for our assistant coaches ... but they are ready and eager, too, because they were also out there with the girls in the summer, volunteering their time to help get them ready for the fall."
      Joe Ellis is the varsity assistant with Schwartz; Liz Triantathyllos is the junior varsity coach; and Sandra Ostrowski has the freshman club.
      NOTES: The Lady Knights open their season with a 4:15 p.m. non-league game against Lakeland Regional on Friday, Sept. 11, at home ... Morris Hills is in the National Division of the NJAC with High Point, Mendham, Montville, Sparta, Parsippany Hills and Pope John ... games against American Division Randolph, Vernon, Roxbury, Morristown, Morris Knolls, West Morris and Mount Olive will also count toward the Lady Knights' record in determining their standing in the National Division.

The 2009 MH Girls Soccer Schedule:
       September 11, at Madison, 4:15 p.m.; 14, at Roxbury, 4:15 p.m.; 16, Sparta, 4 p.m.; 21, Hopatcong, 4 p.m.; 24, at Montville, 4:15 p.m.; 26, High Point, 10 a.m.; 30, at West Morris, 4:15 p.m;
       October 4, Morris County Tournament (MCT) prelim, TBA; 7, at Mount Olive, 4;15 p.m.; 9, at Boonton, 4:15 p.m.; 11, MCT first round game, TBA; 13, Morris Knolls, 4 p.m; 16, St. Elizabeth at Drew University, 7 p.m.; 18, MCT quarterfinals, TBA; 21, Mendham, 4 p.m.; 23, at Vernon, 4:30 p.m.; 25, MCT semifinals, TBA; 27, Morristown, 4 p.m.; 29, at Pope John, 4:15 p.m.; 31, at Randolph, 10 a.m.;
       November 1, MCT Championship Game, TBA.