By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
On X @tortreports
SEWELL — One of the hardest things to do in high school sports is to beat a team three times in one season.
Those words held true for the majority of Monday’s first-round South Jersey Group 4 playoff game between eighth-seeded Washington Township and No. 9 Williamstown as the Minutemaids held a 1-0 advantage heading into the closing minutes contest.
It seemed all but destined that Washington Township, which twice fell to Williamstown in the regular season, would escape with a narrow home playoff victory over its Tri-County Division rival.
Nicole Cirucci didn’t want she and her fellow seniors to go out on a sour note, though.
It took nearly all of 80 minutes, but her strike off a direct kick gave the Braves all the momentum they needed, forcing overtime with 2:19 remaining in regulation.
Devon Chando scored the game-winning header goal in double-overtime as Williamstown stunned Washington Township, 2-1, on a beautiful Monday afternoon.
“We knew if we didn’t win, this would be our last game, and we always knew we could beat Township when we wanted to beat them, even on the third time,” Cirucci said. “We worked our butts off, and it came to this. The whole team has been working for our seniors, because they knew that we wanted this so bad. They’ve been working very hard for us and it just means a lot to know that we’ve built a family. It feels so nice to be able to take this win.”
Said Chando, a junior: “It was a team effort for sure. We all worked very hard. We all wanted it really bad for the seniors. We love them so much, we love playing for them.”
“I was just in that mindset where I knew what I needed to do,” she continued, speaking of her game-winning header. “I had to score for the team. It was all that adrenaline rushing. I knew what I had to do.”
Washington Township (9-8, 4-4 Tri-County Royal) had plenty of opportunities to put the game out of reach — but Braves lockdown goalie Natalie Clark recorded an outstanding performance with 21 saves. The Minutemaids also outshot the Braves, 24-18 in the losing effort.
“I’m really glad that we never gave up,” Clark said. “We’ve been in multiple situations where we have to just come back, and we did. It feels great, and I’m just really glad we pulled through.
“I just do what I can. I do my job, and I know the girls (offensively) were still doing their job,” she added. “Township’s defense was just playing really tough, and that’s why I’m there in the back, just to help out with that. It feels great just knowing that the season is still going, and it’s not over yet. I love this team with all my heart. The fact that we can still spend some time together feels really good.”
Said coach Dan Torcasio: “If it wasn’t for Nat — she kept us in it — they could’ve had three or four goals. She’s been awesome all year. She kept us in it, she gave us a chance. This team has been resilient all year.”
Torcasio admits that the Braves (9-8-2, 5-2-1 Tri-County Royal) will be a decided underdog heading into Thursday’s quarterfinal round against top-seeded Central Regional, a 1-0 winner over No. 16 Vineland on Monday, but he knows his team won’t go down without a fight.
“Right now, we’re playing with house money,” said Torcasio. “This was a great win. This team just doesn’t want to end the season, and I appreciate that.
“Everyone always says beating a team three times is tough, and (Washington Township) is good. They move the ball around a lot. We were opportunistic today, and, luckily, we were on the good side of it.”
Contact Brian Tortella: btortreportssj@gmail.com.
