Wildcats End Road Swing On Saturday

New Jersey Wildcats News Release - www.njwildcats.com

Saturday, June 2, 2012

LONG BRANCH, NJ - The New Jersey Wildcats (1-1-2, 5 points) will conclude a hard stretch of road matches on Saturday afternoon, visiting the New Jersey Rangers (1-2-0, 3 points) at Morris Catholic High School for a 3 p.m. kickoff. The game will be the third road contest in four days for the Wildcats, which has split the first two matches with the North Jersey Valkyries (W 4-2) and Long Island Rough Riders (L 3-2).

"We got a great three points on the road against a good Valkyries team, and then we headed to Long Island, which is always a difficult place to play," Wildcats head coach Jim Gabarra commented. "We played really well there but then ran out of gas a bit at the end."

In that outing with Long Island, Wildcats midfielder Yael Averbuch started the scoring in the 36th minute, but the Rough Riders responded with a pair of second half goals. New Jersey then equalized on a Maya Hayes goal in the 78th minute, but an own goal in stoppage time would prove to be the eventual difference on the scoreboard.

"If we got out of there with a draw, we gain four points from a possible six in those two games," Gabarra remarked. "Instead, we walked away with a tough loss in Long Island after giving away a late goal. What we have to make sure to do is take away the positives, and we know we are getting better with each game. We had a strong roster for these two games, so we just need to move forward and keep getting better."

After playing two contests on consecutive days, the Wildcats will again head north on Saturday, but Gabarra thinks the depth and fitness of the roster will be more than capable of optimal performance in that match.

"We will be at full strength. We will have a couple of players back who did not play in one or both of those last two games," he confirmed. "There are only a handful of players who gave 90 minutes in both of those games, so we will just keep grinding and do our best to get the result. We have a pretty deep roster, and this stretch has given everyone an opportunity to contribute, which is good."

The Wildcats will return home to TCNJ in Ewing on Wednesday, June 6th, hosting the Rangers. Tickets for all Wildcats home matches are also now available and can be attained by calling 732-720-9163. Individual game tickets as well as team and family packages are available, and more information about the Wildcats can be found online at www.njwildcats.com.