Sterling upsets West Deptford to reach South Jersey final

Scoring goals hadn’t been a problem for either Sterling or West Deptford heading into Monday’s Group 2 South Jersey semifinal but it took until three minutes into overtime for either team to find the back of the net and to the shock of the hosts it was fourth-seed Sterling running off their field winners.

Montgomery Draham, who had a brace and two assists in a 4-4 tie between the two teams on October 21, delivered the decisive corner kick that found the head of Taylor Baker to seal the victory. Baker’s well-hit header came just minutes after she scuffed a free kick misplayed by the West Deptford keeper wide of the post.

“I’m glad I got my redemption because I missed the first one a little wide,” Baker said.

A stunned West Deptford team barely moved as Baker’s teammates mobbed her near the goal while the West Deptford coaching staff and fans on the sidelines argued that a whistle had never blown to restart play. The controversey in the end bookended a play early in the match when it looked like West Deptford had taken a lead on a shot that hit the crossbar and bounced down near the goalline. While West Deptford players initially celebrated it as a goal, it was ruled a goal kick after a short deliberation from the linesman.

Sterling later hit the crossbar as both teams pushed for a breakthrough. For the hosts, the goals came fast and furious in an 8-2 win over Middle Township last week while Sterling dropped 8 goals in their first playoff game and edged Seneca 2-1 to advance to the semifinals. Sterling coach Jimmy Kay tweaked his formation to try and slow the Eagles attack and focused on quick transitions and counter attacking to generate offense. Goalkeeper Madison Sims was busy, chipping in with a slew of saves and interventions.

“We talked about just trying to get as much effort as possible,” said Sterling head coach Jimmy Kay. “I think this team being younger, missing a couple key pieces, it’s about just learning how to grind out these games. This game and the Seneca game were almost carbon copies of each other in the sense that they outplayed us and we defended a lot.”

Kay led Sterling to its first South Jersey Coaches Cup title last year but the Silver Knights suffered defeat in the South Jersey semifinal as the top seed in a 2-0 loss to Cinnaminson. Seneca went on to win the South Jersey title with a 3-2 victory over Cinnaminson.

For Drahan, who was one of the standouts for the team last year as a sophomore, remembering the feeling of losing in the final as a freshman to Seneca and last year to Cinnaminson in the semifinal is motivation to keep moving despite some of the injuries and the setbacks this season.

“We don’t want to feel that way again,” Drahan said. “We want to go through all the way.”

Sterling will visit No. 2 seed Haddonfield on Thursday for the South Jersey final. Haddonfield ended 11 seed Barnegat’s Cinderella run with a 2-0 win on Monday.

Top seed Audubon was also upset in Monday’s South Jersey semifinals, unable to overcome a two-goal deficit in the second half to Haddon Township in a 2-1 loss in the Group 1 semifinal. The fourth-seeded Hawks play sixth seed Palmyra in the final on Thursday afternoon. Top seed and unbeaten Shawnee advanced to the final in Group 3 with a 4-0 win over Moorestown while Leah DiCillo’s double overtime goal gave top seed Central Regional the win over Kingsway in Group 4 in a rematch of last year’s sectional final they also won.

Shawnee will face No. 3 seed Ocean City – which won a penalty shootout over No. 2 Cherry Hill West – while Central Regional will play No. 2 seed Eastern. Paul VI advanced to the Non-Public A final with a 2-1 win over Red Bank Catholic on Monday. Emma McCarthy had both goals for the Eagles in the win, which set up a Thursday final with Immaculata.