DiMaio scores twice as Mendham opens with shutout

MENDHAM With her team in need of a lift, Mendham’s Sam DiMaio answered the call.

The senior midfielder notched her second goal of the game off of a return pass from Tara Litjens 40 seconds into the second half to spark Mendham to a 3-0 victory over Ridge in the season opener for both squads.

After sending the ball down low to Litjens, DiMaio received it right back at the top of the circle and fired a shot past Ridge goalie Brennan Everson to give Mendham a 2-0 lead.

“I wouldn’t have shot that, but Tara told me to,” DiMaio confessed.  “I passed to Tara and she passed it to me and she told me to take the shot. So I looked up and took it. The whole thing was communication.”

DiMaio gave Mendham a 1-0 lead with 6:25 to play in the first half when she picked up a loose ball to the left of the goal cage, carried in front of the net and fired a low shot.

“To score that first goal was very exciting,” said DiMaio, who had eight goals last fall. “I was actually looking to make a pass there, But it went right in between the goalie’s legs. It was a lucky shot for me.”

“During the halftime, our coaches really pumped us up by saying that it’s only 1-0 game and that Ridge was going to come out hard in the second half," DiMaio said. “But we came out as hard as we could. To win today was a huge sigh of relief because we came off a great season last year and we’re looking to repeat that. We just don’t want to come out complacent. We want to come out hard every game.Isabella Nardone provided Mendham a 3-0 advantage, with an assist from Ally Reardon, with 24:43 left in the game.

“After the second goal, everything just slid into place. We became a lot more confident after that goal. It kind of assured us that we were the team that we thought we were."

Morgan Turner stopped all four shots she faced for Mendham while Everson finished with 11 saves for Ridge.

Mendham is the first or four challenging opponents with which Ridge opens the season, followed by Shore, Bridgewater and Warren Hills.

“I was actually not too disappointed with the way we played today,” Ridge coach Kim Clark said. “We have a lot of new players. Just a few of our girls have varsity experience, but the rest are brand new. I’m not pleased at the outcome, but I can certainly take away a lot of positives. We got a little intimidated after they scored right away in the second half and played more defensively. It was a tough game though."