Senior Naomi Nnewihe got the ball at her feet on Monday afternoon and with her first step, the Brown commit blew past an Egg Harbor defender. When she hit open space, there was so much going through Nnewihe's brain in such a short amount of time. Her first thought was a natural one.
Should she take it herself and shoot?
Nnewihe leads Ocean City in scoring and she's one of the best finishers in the state. Earlier in the first half, Nnewihe hit a ball directly at the keeper that was deflected, popped into the air and knocked over the net, though.
This was too good of a good chance to come away empty again.
Nnewihe wondered if she could set up a better shot. Then, another thought popped into her head. The senior plays with Brooke Liebrand in club soccer and Nnewihe knew where her teammate would be.
Instinct kicked in.
Nnewihe slid a pass across the box and to the back post, where Liebrand ran onto it and knocked it into the back of the net. That sequence gave Ocean City the lead at halftime. Nnewihe tacked on two score of her own after the break and Ocean City cruised to a 3-0 win over Egg Harbor.
The Red Raiders evened the season series with Egg Harbor, which beat Ocean City, 4-2, earlier this fall. Those two clubs will now share the championship in the Cape-Atlantic League's American Division.
"I had the ball on my weaker foot and I was a little iffy on whether I should shoot, but I knew Brooke was going to be making that run, so I sent it to her and she put it away for us.," said Nnewihe. "We just had to dig in and the best version of everyone was going to come out."
Ocean City came out with a lot of energy in the rematch and even after it took that 1-0 lead in the second half, the Red Raiders knew they needed more. Egg Harbor's offense has been too good this season to rely on just one score. Ocean City needed insurance and Nnewihe provided it.
The senior captain added to the lead in the ??th minute when she ran onto a bouncing ball in the box and headed it into the back of the net. Katie Maxwell sent in the initial feed that gave Nnewihe the chance to strike.
Nnewihe took a loose ball in the box later in the second half and muscled her way through a couple of defenders to get room to shoot. It was a hard-nosed effort that showed how seriously Nnewihe took this game.
Her two-goal effort was arguably the best game of her career.
"We just had to play our game. We were a little frantic the first time we played them and we hadn't really settled into our style," said Nnewihe. "We came back focused and we're peaking at the right time. I missed that first shot, so I was just thinking that I need to get it back. I felt like I should have been on the board from the beginning and I messed it up, so I was just trying to get one myself and not let that get in my head."
Ocean City's defense played its best game of the fall as well.
Maxwell, senior captain Shaela Gannon, senior Anna Maria Marczyk and sophomore Madison Putz controlled the pace and didn't let Egg Harbor get good looks at the net. Senior captain Coryn McDonnell, junior Jaida Dooley and sophomore Emma Vince played well in the middle of the field.
Egg Harbor nearly had a couple of through balls that created something dangerous, but Ocean keeper Kaia Ray come off her line and knocked the ball away to eliminate the threat.
It was an inspired effort from a defense that was tuned up by rookie Jackie Brownlee a mont hago. The rookie scored three times that day.
Ocean City is the first team to shut out Egg Harbor this fall.
"We wanted to respond after letting in four goals the last time we played them," said first-year Ocean City coach Sean Matteo. "That was the best our defense has played all year. We've known that they were capable of it, but to see the energy and the communication was great. (Brownlee) is going to be one of the best forwards in the state, so to shut that offense down and shut them out for the first time this year was big."
Matteo was coaching the boys team at Holy Spirit this time last year and was happy there with a program that he revived. When the girls job opened up at Ocean City, he could not pass up that opportunity.
The Red Raiders have been a powerhouse the last decade.
"These girls are so talented and anyone that sees the Ocean City job pop up, I don't know you don't jump all over it," said Matteo. "I got the call this summer and my wife told me immediately to take it."
It was going to take a few weeks for everything to come together, though. It's always an adjustment when a new coach comes in. Matteo hoped he could make just a few tweaks here and there to really get the team going.
He knew it would eventually click.
That time has come and the win over Egg Harbor proved it.
The Cape-Atlantic League Tournament will be seeded on Wednesday and either Egg Harbor or Ocean City could make the case for the No. 1 seed. These are the two best teams in the league and if they meet for a third time next week, it will be with a championship on the line.
"They have played some really motivated soccer the last few weeks," said Matteo, who dyed his beard red ahead of the rematch with Egg Harbor. "The girls were ready for this. They knew there was a lot on the line. Earlier this year, we still figuring things out. This was a motivated team and a different team than what we've seen the past couple of weeks. That was a great result today."