Girls Soccer – Toms River North Wins First Sectional Championship

For the first time in its program's history, the Toms River North girls soccer team will hang an NJSIAA sectional championship banner.

The Mariners - the No. 2 seed in the South Jersey Group IV tournament - traveled south to top-seeded Eastern on Friday and beat the Vikings, 3-1, to capture their first ever sectional title.

Toms River North stormed out to a 2-0 halftime lead on first-half goals by sophomore Morgan Curtis and junior Krystal Hund, who set up Curtis's goal to open the scoring before converting a pass from freshman Paige Farley.

The Mariners put the game out of reach with their third goal of the game, a finish by junior Melissa Wilhelm on a feed from classmate Jenna Royson.

Friday's appearance in the sectional final was the first for Toms River North since losing to 1-0 a powerhouse Lenape team in the 2007 final. In the nine years between trips to the sectional final, the Mariners have been perennially at or near the top of the Class A South standings and also won the program's first and only Shore Conference Tournament championship in 2012.

Toms River North also reached this year's Shore Conference Tournament semifinals for the first time since winning the 2012 tournament. The Mariners lost to Freehold Township in the semis and will play Central Jersey Group IV champion Hunterdon Central - which beat Freehold Township, 2-0, in Friday's CJ IV final - in Tuesday's Group IV semifinal at Hopewell Valley High School.