Tournament Runs End for Montgomery as Tennis Battles to the Wire, Soccer Teams Fall in County Quarterfinals

Nicholas Mistretta

MHS ’79 Cougar Sports Correspondent

MONTGOMERY, NJ — It was a difficult tournament day for Montgomery High School athletics Monday, as the girls tennis team came within one match of an NJSIAA sectional championship while both Cougar soccer teams saw their Somerset County Tournament runs come to an end.

Montgomery girls tennis battled unbeaten Princeton to a 3-2 decision in the NJSIAA South Jersey, Group 3 final, while the boys soccer team fell to Gill St. Bernard’s, 3-0, and the girls were defeated by Rutgers Prep, 6-0, in their respective Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals.

Girls Tennis Pushes Unbeaten Princeton in Sectional Final

Montgomery’s girls tennis team gave undefeated Princeton all it could handle before falling 3-2 in the South Jersey, Group 3 championship match. The loss moved Montgomery to 9-5, while Princeton improved to a perfect 10-0. The Cougars swept the two doubles flights, but Princeton captured all three singles matches to secure the sectional title.

At first doubles, Rachel Silverberg and Annie Xu battled back after dropping the opening set to defeat Princeton’s Sophia Bruhn and Ksenia Petukh, 1-6, 6-4, 10-8. Montgomery also collected a victory at second doubles, where Nikitaa Chandane and Nidhi Soppimath defeated Luna Xu and Allison Wang, 7-5, 6-3.

Princeton secured its three points in singles play.

At first singles, Montgomery’s Lanxin Xiao won the opening set before Ariyana Patel rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 10-7 victory in one of the day’s closest matches. Phoebe Decker defeated Emily Ma at second singles, 6-4, 7-5, while Amelia Huang topped Mihika Doshi, 6-1, 6-2, at third singles.

The result ended a strong state tournament run for Montgomery, which had advanced to the sectional final behind a lineup capable of producing points throughout both singles and doubles play.

Boys Soccer Falls to Gill St. Bernard’s in County Quarterfinal

Montgomery’s boys soccer team entered its Somerset County Tournament quarterfinal against Gill St. Bernard’s looking to extend its postseason run, but an early goal and a pair of late strikes sent the Knights through with a 3-0 victory.

The loss left Montgomery at 6-6, while Gill St. Bernard’s improved to 7-5-1.

The Knights struck quickly when Renato Panetta scored in the fifth minute off an assist from Julio Rzemieniewski, giving Gill St. Bernard’s a 1-0 advantage. Montgomery remained within one goal for most of the match, but Gill St. Bernard’s finally created separation late in the second half.

JeanCarlo Sanchez scored in the 71st minute on Rzemieniewski’s second assist of the game. Just two minutes later, Rzemieniewski added a goal of his own, with Sanchez supplying the assist, to make it 3-0.

Gill St. Bernard’s finished with 10 shots on goal, compared with four for Montgomery. Cougar goalkeeper Nischal Ande made seven saves in the loss.

The result eliminated Montgomery from the Somerset County Tournament after the Cougars had worked their way into the quarterfinal round.

Rutgers Prep Ends Montgomery Girls Soccer County Run

Montgomery’s girls soccer team also ran into a difficult quarterfinal opponent, falling to Rutgers Prep, 6-0. Rutgers Prep improved to 8-1-3, while Montgomery moved to 5-6. The Argonauts scored three times in each half and finished with 15 shots on goal, holding Montgomery to two.

Jackie Goldovsky led Rutgers Prep with two goals and an assist, while Charlise Kraus, Savannah De Barros, Sasha Romaszka and Gladys Robinson each added a goal. De Barros also recorded an assist, while Zara Sarfraz contributed another.

Montgomery goalkeeper Ellie Andes made seven saves as the Cougars faced sustained pressure throughout the match. Rutgers Prep goalkeepers Jordan Reigrod and Aliya Davis combined for the shutout.

Photo Credit: Nick Mistretta/headlinenewsmontgomry.com