Girls Soccer – Week 7 Surf Taco Player of the Week

The Week 7 Player of the Week Contest is an All-Shore-Conference-Tournament affair, featuring eight players who stood out for their respective teams during the three rounds of SCT play last week. Read about the accomplishments of each and vote for the top performer in the poll at the bottom of the page. Vote every hour until the poll closes on Wednesday night at 10 p.m.

Reese Beggs, Brick

After earning a No. 6 seed in the Shore Conference Tournament, Brick validated it by beating Colts Neck to reach the SCT quarterfinals. In that win, Beggs scored one of her team’s two goals and assisted the other by Abby Kennelly to lead the Green Dragons into a quarterfinal match against Freehold Township. After another strong showing last week, the sophomore leads Brick 15 goals and five assists on the season.

Emily Clayton, Wall

The defending Shore Conference Tournament champions played a challenging regular-season schedule and were rewarded with a challenging SCT draw as well. Wall survived a round of penalties against Brick Memorial in the opening round, then had to play a high-scoring Shore team in the round of 16. Wall, which beat Shore during the regular season, took the Blue Devils to overtime before ultimately losing, with Clayton scoring both of her team’s goals to extend the game.

Julia Dimino, Marlboro

After upsetting St. Rose in the first round, the Mustangs kept it going by knocking off Toms River South in the round of 16. Dimino scored the lone goal of that game off a pass from Samantha Howard and in the next round against Middletown North, Howard again set up a goal by Dimino in Marlboro’s 4-1 loss to the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

Frankie McDonough, Shore

One of Shore’s two regular-season losses to Shore Conference teams came at the hands of Wall on the road, but the result on the turf at Shore went the other way. McDonough buried a goal and assisted the two other Blue Devils scores as Shore outlasted the defending Shore Conference Tournament champs in overtime, 3-2.

Caroline O’Connor, Red Bank Catholic

Red Bank Catholic’s senior captain has done a little bit of everything to get the Caseys back to the Shore Conference Tournament final for the first time since 2013. O’Connor scored one of RBC’s two goals in a 2-1 win over Southern in the SCT Round of 16 and assisted the other. After holding down the midfield in a 2-0 win over Rumson in the quarterfinals, O’Connor again chipped on the stat sheet with an assist on Aubrey Silverman’s goal in a 1-0 Caseys win over Freehold Township on Saturday. O’Connor also provided some defensive help with RBC playing without senior Abi George in the SCT semifinal.

Anna Priborkina, Freehold Twp.

Despite losing some major firepower from last year’s team, Freehold Township has remained one of the Shore’s best this year and came oh-so-close to reaching the SCT final for the fourth straight year. Proborkina was the Patriots standout during the SCT run, scoring a goal in the 4-0 win over Point Beach and scoring and assisting a goal in the 2-0 win over Brick in the quarterfinals. Priborkina also gave Freehold Township its best scoring chance in Saturday’s semifinal vs. RBC when she struck a first-half shot off the crossbar.

Darien Rinn, Middletown North

Middletown North’s perfect start to the season came to an end vs. Toms River North Saturday in the SCT semifinals, but Rinn and the Lions never stopped battling in being dealt their first defeat. Rinn scored the tying goal on a header off a corner kick to keep Middletown North alive, her third straight SCT game with a goal. The junior striker scored once in a 4-1 win over Jackson Memorial in the round of 16 and dialed up a hat trick in the 4-1 quarterfinal win over Marlboro.

Marisa Tava, Toms River North

It has taken a total team effort for Toms River North to reach the SCT final for the first time since winning it in 2012 so it is hard to pick just one Mariner to recognize for the run. Junior Emily Royson moved to center back to solidify the defense, sophomore Alexa Peto came up with a key play in both wins over Shore and Middletown North and Jaszmin Brown scored the game-winner against the Lions on Saturday. Tava, however, gets the nod for continuing to control the midfield with Royson moving back and being involve in so many key plays for the Mariners. The senior midfield recorded a goal and an assist both vs. St. John Vianney and Shore in Toms River North’s first two tournament games and beat a host of Middletown North defenders to initial her team’s first goal on Saturday.