By BRIAN TORTELLA

Correspondent

On X @tortreports

WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP — The Williamstown High girls soccer team isn’t used to slow starts. 

Heading into Thursday’s matchup with Tri-County Conference Royal Divisional rival Kingsway, the Braves had an uncharacteristic 1-4-1 mark through six games this season — already matching their losses from 2023.

But Braves coach Dan Torcasio stressed to his squad that it can overcome those early setbacks.

“I told the girls, ‘those losses in the beginning of the year don’t have to define us,’” Torcasio said. “They just had to learn from them. To their credit, they learned from it. We’re starting to turn that corner. We’re starting to play the way Williamstown soccer has played.”

After all, it’s not about how you start — it’s about how you finish.

Those words couldn’t have been more true as the Braves rallied for a 2-1, double-overtime victory over Kingsway. Junior Alyssa Reiter notched the first goal of the game for either side to give Kingsway its first and only lead in the 10th minute.

Less than four minutes later, however, Williamstown sophomore Liannah Martin, assisted by Emily Green, evened the score up. But that was the last time anyone scored for the next 85 minutes. 

“It was a big win,” coach Torcasio said. “We’ve been struggling a little bit. We had a rough start to the season, we’re young, we have people in different spots. I told the girls at practice yesterday that I had a dream that we were going to win on a penalty kick, and whatever happened, we got it.”

Green made her coach’s dream come true. 

The junior netted the game-winning shot off a PK in the 99th minute to seal the victory for the Braves (2-4-1, 2-1-1 Tri-County Royal). 

“We’ve been in quite a few overtime situations, so we know how to handle these,” Green said. “We’ve learned from the past. It was a tough, hard battle, but we figured out how to get through it.”

The Kingsway (3-2-1, 0-1-1 Tri-County Royal) coaching staff notably disagreed with the penalty call, and Dragons coach Bill Alvaro declined to comment on the game’s ending.

“I won’t comment on that,” Alvaro said. “He made the call, that’s it.”

“It was a good, hard-fought Tri-County Royal Division game,” Alvaro added. “We’re going to keep moving forward. We improved a lot, and we’re still trying to figure out pieces to the puzzle here and there.”

Said Torcasio: “It’s tough. We lost one to Clearview like that, where (officials) called a PK in and we lost. Was it a foul? I think the refs kind of take away from a great game. But, (when) I’m on that side, I’ll take it.”

It was also a particularly sweet victory for Williamstown, as a former player’s father recently passed away after a three-year battle with cancer.

“We all worked so hard this whole season,” Green said. “We had a rough start, and we all put our heart into this game for our former teammate’s father who passed away this week. He battled cancer for three years now, and unfortunately he lost the battle this Saturday. We’re all going to the funeral after this to support her.”

See full post-game video interview: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAZb6MkRth4/?igsh=MXdlcmtsMDVocGxpMg==

Added Torcasio: “I think we’re going to get better as the season goes on. As long as they keep trusting each other and playing the style that they’re playing, we’re going to be okay.”

WHAT’S NEXT: Williamstown travels to West Deptford on Monday at 3:45 p.m. Kingsway travels to Washington Township on Monday at 4 p.m.

Contact Brian Tortella: btortreportssj@gmail.com