By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
On X @tortreports
WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP — It was only fitting that on her Senior Night it took just 36 seconds for fourth-year varsity player Cailon Burlingame to get Kingsway Regional High on the board.
After that, the Dragons never looked back as Kingsway cruised to a 4-1 victory over Timber Creek in a Tri-County Conference matchup Wednesday night.
“It was a great start,” Burlingame said. “We knew it was going to be tough. We knew that we had to score right away. I got hit in the head my prior game, so it was just great to score in the first 30 seconds. I think we can make it far in the playoffs if we play as a team and keep our team chemistry tight.”
Said coach Bill Alvaro, “obviously it’s a great night for the seniors. It was good for them, we had a little bit of fun. The main focus was still to win, and they did a good job of that.”
They sure did.
https://x.com/tortreports/status/1846763920389738771?s=46
Kingsway (8-4-1, 2-2-1 Tri-County Royal) jumped out to a 2-0 lead behind Burlingame’s first-minute goal and a strike from Alyssa Reiter minutes later. Timber Creek (8-8, 6-1 Tri-County Liberty) cut the Dragons’ advantage to one with its lone goal coming from Billie Frazier, but Katey Mason scored an insurance goal for the Dragons just before halftime to help secure the victory.
“This was a big game for everybody tonight,” Mason said. “Senior Night celebrating, we have a lot of girls, we all work together. Each practice we say we have a goal. That goal is ultimately to win the conference, and this win was very helpful for that. By scoring that goal (just before the half) we had assurance that we were doing well in the game and didn’t have to worry.”
Mason, who’s committed to Eastern University for soccer, also plays on the Kingsway varsity flag football team. She recorded three touchdown receptions in the spring for the Dragons, including the game-winning score in the WJFL Championship at the Philadelphia Eagles’ NovaCare Complex.
“We have a lot of flag football players on the team, and they had a great year,” coach Alvaro added. “Just like we have a lot of lacrosse players. We have a lot of multi-sport players. It’s great having them out here. Playing an extra sport always helps. It’s better for every program, the more sports everyone plays.”
No one knows that better than Alvaro, who’s also been the head coach of the Dragons’ baseball program since 2018 — and was previously the skipper at Washington Township for both their baseball and girls soccer teams.
Said Mason, “I think it’s awesome(being a two-sport athlete). You know, flag (football)came sophomore year. I wasn’t really sure about it and I thought, ‘why not try it out?’”
Other players such as Riley Lewin, Audrey Donaldson, and Caroline Brickner all play flag football in the spring, and perhaps the best thing about the Dragons is their ability to excel in different sports.
And while they captured a championship in flag football, now they’re determined to make some noise in South Jersey Group 4 soccer competition when the NJSIAA tournament starts up on Nov. 4.
“We have come together, we have worked as a team to become more cohesive,” Mason said. “We want to win games, ultimately, and we’ve done things in practice to more focus on the things that we struggle on. And after games we reflect on those things.”
Said Alvaro, “we’ve been taking positive steps in the right direction, so we think we’re headed into a good spot.”
Click this link to watch the new ‘Sideline Snippets’ series, where correspondent Brian Tortella hands a Go-Pro video camera stick to players after the game and they talk about the victory:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBNSaSFNHiX/?igsh=MWoxNjJyc2l6bDFoOA==
WHAT’S NEXT: Kingsway hosts GCIT on Friday at 4 p.m. Timber Creek travels to Deptford on Friday at 4 p.m.
Contact Brian Tortella: btortreportssj@gmail.com
