Cherokee settles score, moves into sectional final with win over Washington Township
Taylor Stuart of Washington Township and Lyla Clark of Cherokee joust for possession on a throw-in during their South Jersey Group 4 semifinal at Tom Brown Field in Washington Township on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.
Cherokee wasn’t out to prove a point to Washington Township when the two met on the turf at Tom Brown Field for their South Jersey Group 4 semifinal.Abbie Zurbryzcki provided a goal and an assist for the Chiefs in a 3-1 victory, and all of those thoughts were put aside for dreams of sectional final glory; Cherokee , the third seed in the bracket, will face top-seeded Central Regional, a winner over Egg Harbor in the other semifinal, for the Group 4 crown.“We were a little unhappy about the way we played ,” Chiefs coach Megan Boland said. “It was a rough game for us. It was one of our worst games of the season, if I’m being honest about it. So we were kind of mad about it. I told them, you’ve got to revenge every part of the game, where we did poorly. You’ve got to go fix it. And they did.” The game wasn’t two minutes old before the Chiefs had a scoring chance. Lily Gorsline -- who was taking the PSAT on Oct. 11 -- got under a bouncing ball in front of the net and lofted it toward the right post. It bounced, maybe one step beyond where Mia Donovan could get her finish on it. A tone was set, though. The Chiefs carried most of the play in the first half and took the lead on Zubrzycki’s team-best 19th goal of the season in the 12th minute. Nellie Boland set it in motion with a long restart that eluded Brianna Weiss, the diving Washington Township goalkeeper, and bounced away off the post. Zubryzcki was first to the rebound and put in a rolling shot from about six yards away. “I saw the ball coming back toward me and I knew it was just a simple tap-in,” Zubryzcki said. “So I had to just focus and not loft the ball over the goal. So I just focused and tapped it in. It was a great goal by the team; it was a good shot, and we just had to follow it.”Zubryzcki did more than follow it; she followed it up. It was her rolling cross from the left side that found Angelina Agban alone in front of the net, and Agban’s tap-in that made it a 2-0 game with 10 minutes left in the half. Bolan revived an old standard at halftime: she told her team a 2-0 lead was the worst in soccer. The next goal would change the game.“I say it every time,” the coach said, smiling. “But you know what? The last couple times we were down 2-0, we ended up scoring two or three goals in the second half. We always say number three is the dagger. And it was.”“Mia Donovan was in the middle, and I just saw a split ball,” Neal said. “I knew I had an open run, so I just ran and I called for it. She played a perfect ball to my feet and I one-touched it by the goalie. It changed the momentum of the entire half.” coach Megan Boland did use the halftime cliche about 2 goals being "the worst lead in soccer." Caroline Neal took it to heart and 33 seconds later it was 3-0. Boland has a take on that, too. Taylor Stuart scored the lone The Minutemaids finally put on some consistent offensive pressure in the latter part of the second half and broke through with 8:20 left on an effort play by Taylor Stuart. The senior chased down Katelyn D’Ottaviano’s long overhead pass and powered home her 18th of the season from about 12 yards out on the right side. Washington Township's Maddy Hengy follows the flight of her header as she battles for position with Cherokee's Mia Donovan during their South Jersey Group 4 semifinal at Tom Brown Field in Washington Township on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.A cross from D’Ottaviano four minutes later took a bounce in front of the Chiefs’ net and was sitting there waiting to be finished, but the Minutemaids couldn’t follow it up. Cherokee keeper Riley Anderson got through the scrum to pick it up and carried it out of danger. Two minutes later Corrine Myers got a step on the defense down the right side, but Anderson dived to collect her rolling finish. “I don’t like the way we ended,” Boland said. “We played a lot of defense. You can’t do that. You’ve got to play a full 80 minutes. But I can’t be too picky. We’re going to the South Jersey finals.” Washington Township was the Tri-County Conference Royal Division champion, earned the second seed in the South Jersey Group 4 bracket and shut out its first two playoff opponents by a combined 10-0 score. The Minutemaids, who were 9-8 last season, will have a lot to celebrate, once the sting of the last loss wears off. “It’s my second year here, so the 10 seniors were part of the original group that I started coaching,” Washington Township coach David Heil said. “We’ve had a lot of special moments with them. We’re trying to set the standard at Washington Township to the level of a Shawnee, where we’re reaching semifinals and finals every year, and teams aren’t looking to come play with us. “I’m proud of them. They’ve kind of set that tone. And it’s a great group. We didn’t have any turmoil or fighting -- we all got along. When you have that, you have success.” Olivia McCullough prepares to send the ball up the field as Cherokee's Angelina Agban pursues during their South Jersey Group 4 semifinal at Tom Brown Field in Washington Township on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.I've covered high school sports for Advance Media since January, 2024. I'm a graduate of Trenton State College and I've covered high school sports in South and Central Jersey for a little over 40 years. 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