Girls Soccer – VOTE: Week 2 Surf Taco Player of the Week

Each week, beginning this week, Shore Sports Network recognizes the top players in Shore Conference girls soccer over the past seven days and gives the readers a chance to vote for the top performer.

Read about the 10 nominees for the stretch of games between Sept. 9 and 15, and vote for your favorite. Vote once per hour through the Wednesday deadline at 10 p.m. and the top vote-getter will win a $25 gift card to Surf Taco.

Attention Coaches: Want to nominate a player for next week's contest? You can email mmanley21@gmail.com with the name of the nominee(s) and a brief summary of her performance over the past week.

Taylor Bielan, Fr., Holmdel

The Hornets hung right with Shore Regional in a big A Central showdown before ultimately falling, 4-3. Bielan proved that although only a freshman, she was ready for a big game. The Holmdel rookie scored two of Holmdel’s three goals in the loss – the first two goals of her high school career.

Morgan Cupo, So., Red Bank Catholic

The Caseys just finished a big week by going 2-1, with wins over St. John Vianney and Manasquan and a 2-1 loss to Middletown South. Cupo led the way in the win over Vianney, tallying a goal and an assist. The sophomore followed that performance up with two more goals in a 6-1 victory over Manasquan.

Caitlyn Decker, Jr., Red Bank

For the first time in nearly a decade, Red Bank scored a win over Wall in girls soccer and it was Decker’s goal that proved to be the difference in a 1-0 Bucs win. The junior came back with another goal to help Red Bank finish off the week with a 2-1 win over Lacey to improve to 4-0 in the early stages of 2019.

Julia Eichenbaum, Sr., Shore

Last week was a typical week for Eichenbaum, which is to say it was an outstanding one. The senior striker scored seven goals in three Shore wins, including a four-goal outburst with two assists in a 9-2 win over Monmouth. The Illinois commit also scored a pair of goals and assisted another in a 4-3 win over Holmdel and threw in another goal in a win over Rumson-Fair Haven.

Jordyn Ferraro, Sr., Manalapan

After scoring a goal in a win over Marlboro earlier in the week, Ferraro came up with a big performance in a statement win for the Braves. Ferraro scored two goals and assisted another in Manalapan’s 6-2 win over defending North Jersey 2, Group III champion Middletown North as the Braves improved to 2-1 following a season-opening loss to Jackson Memorial.

Nayeli Herdoiza, Jr., Keyport

No player in the Shore Conference had a bigger single-game scoring outburst than Herdoiza had for the Red Raiders last week. In a 7-0 win over South Amboy, the junior erupted for five goals to get Keyport its first win of the season.

Abby Kennelly, Jr., Brick

The Green Dragons had a big showdown with Toms River North on Thursday and earned a 1-1 draw with the Mariners. Kennelly assisted the lone Brick goal by junior Kaitlyn Horvath in the draw with Toms River North and followed that up with two goals in a 3-0 win over Howell on Saturday.

Natalie Knauf, Sr., Jackson Memorial

The Jaguars continued their strong start to 2019 during the last week and Knauf provided a good deal of the powerful scoring punch. The senior scored a goal each in wins over Brick Memorial and Howell and went off for a hat trick in a win over Central.

Kat O’Brien, Sr., Freehold Twp.

O’Brien was the model of consistency last week for a program that has been the same over the last decade. The senior recorded a goal and an assist in each of Freehold Township’s three games last week – wins over Rumson-Fair Haven, Howell and Wall.

Gianna Simon, Fr., Southern

With 24 goals in four games, Southern is off to an eye-opening start and Simon highlighted last week’s dominant showings against Toms River South and Brick Memorial. The freshman scored two goals in each of the two Rams wins – 8-2 over the Indians and 7-1 over the Mustangs.