West Orange HS girls soccer team advances in the ECT

WOHS freshman Kayla Thompson (No. 7)

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Senior quad captain Lauren Villasin, junior Juliana Candido and sophomore Omolola Kalejaye each scored a goal to lead the fourth-seeded West Orange High School girls soccer team to a 3-0 win over No. 12 seed Newark Academy in the quarterfinals of the Essex County Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 19, at Lincoln field in West Orange. Juniors Paige Topping, Josephine Foglia and Madison Reynolds each had an assist and senior quad captain Hannay Amoyaw made four saves for the Mountaineers, who won their third straight game to improve to 8-4-2. WOHS was scheduled to face ninth-seeded Verona in the ECT semifinals on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at Belleville after press time. The other semifinal pitted No. 2 seed Livingston against No. 3 seed Montclair. The ECT championship game will take place on Saturday, Oct. 26, at Livingston at 2 p.m.

Verona upset No. 1 seed Mount St. Dominic 3-2 in the quarterfinals.

WOHS, under longtime head coach Sean Devore, won back-to-back ECT titles in 2021 and 2022. Last season, they fell to Livingston 3-2 in the ECT final.

In earlier action, junior Milan Llewellyn and Villasin each had a goal, and freshman Kayla Thompson had one assist to lead the Mountaineers to a 3-0 win over No. 14 seed Columbia in the ECT first round on Thursday, Oct. 17, at Lincoln Field. Amoyaw made four saves and sophomore Niara Bodie made two saves for the Mountaineers. It was the Mountaineers’ first game since Tuesday, Oct. 8, when they beat Kearny 3-0 at Lincoln Field.

Photo Courtesy of West Orange High School Athletics