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State Cup Semi-Finals Appearance Is All The Rage

It's been a fantastic season for the EBSC Rage (U16G), even if the girls didn't have the storybook ending they were hoping for. The girls, coached by Greg Potkulski and Katie Kalafor and trained by Denise Reddy, made a great run in the NJ rounds of the State Cup/National Championship Tournament, advancing to the semifinals at the College of New Jersey with wins over the Wall Crush, NJSA04 Fury and NJ Rangers Freedom. In Saturday afternoon's semis, the Rage ran into #13 nationally-ranked and defending state champs Mt. Laurel Comets. The Rage lost, 4-0, to Mt. Laurel, but won a lot of respect in the process.

After a nervous opening few minutes, in which the Rage fell behind 2-0, the girls rallied and played extremely well, battling Mt. Laurel to a generally even second half. The Rage got a tremendous performance in goal from Allie Couzo and strong defensive and midfield performances from Sam Kalafor, Laura Coughlin, Heather Haskoor, Eliana Gerson, Laura Kelly, Jenna Carroll, Christine Chimento and Lilly Nichols. On the offensive end, the Rage in the second half challenged the Mt. Laurel defense. The team had strong play at outside halfback and forward from Frances Weng, Brianna Crosby, Heather Potkulski, Alyssa Figueroa, Sam Menza and Frankie Barbato.

"I was extremely proud of the girls," Coach Potkulski said. "In order to become a better team, you must be able to compete against top-caliber teams. Our run in State Cup will definitely help us become an even better team. "

In a show of great sportsmanship and class, after shaking hands with the referees and the team from Mt. Laurel, the Rage and their coaches jogged across the field to shake hands with a Mt. Laurel player who had been injured moments earlier and was receiving medical treatment from the local EMTs.

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