Megan Bromwell lines up a punt during a 4-3 home win over Bishop Eustace on Nov. 5. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)
Miah Olaleye lines up a kick during a 4-3 home win over Bishop Eustace on Nov. 5. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)
The Notre Dame High School girls’ soccer team won the Mercer County Tournament and the NJSIAA South Jersey Non-Public A championship game with a distinct Hamilton Township look.
Not just with several players on the field, but with a key figure on the sidelines.
When Ken Mason—a former Hamilton West coach and athletic director—took over the program this season, one of the first things he did was bring on West graduate Vicky Camera as his varsity assistant. He also inherited two juniors from the township who play big roles on the Irish’s defense in goalkeeper Megan Bromwell and right back Miah Olaleye.
With their help, the Irish carried a 16-3-1 record into the SJ title game with Holy Cross on Nov. 12. The Irish won 5-4 on penalty kicks, with Bromwell saving Holy Cross’s fifth shot to give Notre Dame the chance to win.
“We’ve had a great year and the contributors from Hamilton have been big, as you would expect,” Mason said.
It starts with Camera, who just completed an outstanding career with Rowan University last spring. With Mason not having coached soccer for 20 years, a lot had changed in terms of drills and formations. Camera was right on top of things after just coming out of college.
“She’s been awesome, there’s a girl who will be an outstanding head coach,” Mason said. “She brings so much to the table. She does other things, but when it comes to field drills and keeping girls fit, Vicky has taken a lead role in that and the girls enjoy them. She tones them down so the girls can understand them.”
Mason knew that Camera was committed the moment she began introducing herself to the players in August.
“She’s got a real easy demeanor, and the girls really like her because they can approach her about anything,” the coach said. “And then she’ll approach me about the things that are really important. I can’t say enough good things about Vicky. She’s done great as a first-year coach.”
Providing a player’s perspective is Olaleye, who echoes Mason’s sentiments.
“I absolutely love Coach Vic,” Olaleye said. “She is a delight to have. I am glad we have a female coach who has experienced playing college soccer. She brings out that knowledge whenever she’s showing us a drill at practice, or even if we have a simple question about what college is like. Having her is amazing and we are all glad to have her.”
But coaches are only as good as their players, as the saying goes, and Notre Dame has two pretty good ones in Bromwell and Olaleye.
Bromwell is in her second year in the Irish net and is skilled at organizing the box so that the opposition’s offensive attack is limited.
“She hasn’t really faced a ton of shots,” Mason said. “She’s been solid all year, she works really hard in practice. As a junior she’s learning a lot, she has to lead these girls next year and she’s been able to get along with everybody.”
Bromwell began playing in the Bob Smith Soccer Academy before moving to the Hamilton Wildcats and then to the Hibernian Heat. The Heat disbanded after six years and she went to the Monmouth Flash before ending up on her current team, the FAC Wildcats.
She began as a midfielder and defender, until one day the goalkeeper on her Hibos team broke her wrist. Megan stepped in when she was 11 years old.
“I was so nervous the first game I played there,” Bromwell said. “I had no clue what I was doing. I caught the ball and all I remember thinking was ‘This is not as bad as I thought.’ My nerves started to lessen and I liked it in the box. I had so much fun playing it so I kept on training.”
Bromwell’s stepfather, John Antinoro, is her goalie coach. Last year Antinoro was the freshman coach and trained Megan on the side, this year he works with the keepers fulltime.
“A lot of the credit goes to him,” Mason said.
It was Antinoro who stressed to Bromwell that she could make life easier on herself by setting up the defense to make the opposition less dangerous.
“I didn’t know that (controlling the box) came with my position until I started training with my stepdad,” she said. “We used to go watch any game at Mercer County Park, or we’d go watch my cousin’s college games. I watched a lot of soccer on TV and started to figure out what you had to do to make a team successful.”
Mason said that working with Antinoro provides a certain comfort level with Bromwell, and added that having great defenders does not hurt either.
“That defense in front of her is all-county caliber,” the coach said. “Her defense has been great, but she’s the backbone of it. The girls all get along. That’s a credit to her, for a junior to get along with the seniors is no easy thing. She limits the shots, calls out everybody’s responsibility.”
Over Notre Dame’s first 20 games, the Irish allowed an average of less than three shots on goal per game. Bromwell is the first to admit her defense plays a huge part in that, and a key part of that defense is Olaleye. Despite growing up in the same township, the two had never met before coming to Notre Dame, but they are certainly enjoying their time together now.
“Miah’s awesome,” Bromwell said. “She brings a whole entire different component to the defense. She has a lot of speed. When they make runs, her speed helps immensely with that. Having her experience in the back helps a lot.”
Olaleye started her description of Bromwell in similar fashion.
“She is awesome,” Miah said. “Having her behind me is definitely an advantage. Megan is the person on the field with the best vision. She sees everything and can call if a player is dropping on me or if I need to hurry and mark an open player. She is excellent at setting up the defense. On free kicks Megan commands the field and sets up with confidence.”
Olaleye’s presence is enough to provide any keeper with confidence. After starting in YMCA rec ball at age 5, she moved on to the GAK, and then the Jersey Shore BOCA before landing with Mercer FC.
With the Irish, she’s usually marking up the opponent’s toughest offensive player.
“She’s been solid all year on defense,” Mason said. “She’s really fast. She’s good in track as well. She does everything we ask her to do, makes some runs to the front when we ask. She’s so fast that she can get up there.”
One of Olaleye’s biggest moments this year came in the MCT when she handled two of Princeton Day School’s stud forwards in a 3-0 win on Oct. 26.
“She basically shut them down,” Mason said. “She had a really strong game.”
Olaleye agreed with Mason that speed is her biggest asset. It allows her to take chances at times, knowing she has time to make up for a mistake.
“If I’m trying to defend an oncoming player and they happen to slip past, I can use my speed to recover the ball,” she noted.
Between Olaleye and Bromwell, the Irish breezed to the MCT championship, taking a 3-0 win over Allentown in the final.
“That’s been a dream of mine since my freshman year,” Bromwell said. “That was one of the happiest moments since I’ve been in high school. I knew we had really good players, I knew we’d have a very good season but winning MCTs helps everybody realize how talented of a team we are.”
Olaleye agreed.
“We have been training all year to take home the title and when it finally happened we couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I am so extremely proud of my team for putting in the hard work every practice. We deserved to win and I’m glad we did.”
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