BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ- The Summit High School Hilltoppers girls varsity soccer team knew a task was on hand when they went up against the Governor Livingston High School Highlanders, who came into the game having won six of their last seven games, a streak that had turned around the Highlanders season.
“We beat them earlier in the season, but we knew they’re a different team now,” Summit senior Kaleigh Brennan said. “They have a lot of great wins that our coach told us about and that we were going to have to play our hardest.”
The Hilltoppers, who got an early score on an own goal, shook off an early Highlanders goal in the second half by putting up two goals in a short time span to put away the Highlanders by a final score of 3-1 at Synder Avenue Park in Berkley Heights.
As the second half began with Summit leading 1-0 coming out of halftime, freshman Kaylee Vreeland finished off a chance in the Summit zone to tie the game at 1-1 with her ninth goal of the season.
The pace of the game following Vreeland’s game-tying goal appeared to be even between the two teams, with both goaltenders making some saves in the process.
“Each of our first goals, I think, were defensive breakdowns,” Governor Livingston head coach Mike Roof said. “From there on, we did tie it early in the second half. I thought we had some positive play for a good seven to ten minute [span].”
The teams continued to produce chance after chance as the minutes went by in the second half, but the score remained tied between the Hilltoppers and Highlanders. The teams traded headers, free kicks, throw-ins and all kinds of scoring opportunities, but nothing was quite getting to the back of the net.
Full Coverage of Summit’s Road Win At Governor Livingston HS Here
