Boca women’s team making quick strides – Asbury Park Press
August 3, 2009
Boca women’s team making quick strides
Asbury Park Press
By Sherlon Christie – STAFF WRITER
August 3, 2009
Despite its infancy, the Jersey Shore Boca U-23 women’s soccer team is having great success.
In only its third season, the Boca made it to the Mid-Atlantic Summer Showcase League Cup and won the program’s first title.
The MSSL is a regional summer soccer league, which is specifically designed for collegiate players under the age of 23 and is fully sanctioned by the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA), the national governing body for adult amateur soccer.
“Three years ago, which was our first season, we came in third place in the regular season standings and were the runner-up to the MSSL Cup,” Boca U-23 women’s coach Charlie Cunliffe said. “Last year, we were in first place in the regular season but unfortunately because of thunderstorms and a tornado warning, the MSSL Cup was canceled.”
So, the motivation for the Boca was to get back to the MSSL Cup this year.
The Boca were in first place in the regular season and received a first-round bye.
On July 26, the Boca won a doubleheader en route to the MSSL Cup.
First, the Boca defeated the Jersey Knights 3-0. Then the Boca defeated the Middlepath Extreme from the Hudson Valley New York area.
“It is funny, we played the Middlepath Extreme two years ago and of course we lost to them,” Cunliffe said. “We got them again this year and we won.”
The team features some notable players like former Shore Regional players Alley Abbate and Katie Minervini and former Lakewood player Erin Cunliffe. Abbate is now at Georgian Court University, Minervini is at Montclair State University and Cunliffe is at The College of New Jersey.
“Up until we started the Boca women’s team there really wasn’t an opportunity for the ladies to play in their own backyard. The Boca men’s team has been around for a while,” Cunliffe said.