It has been quite the high-octane season so far for Mount St. Dominic, but with so much more to still accomplish as the Lions seek their first-ever Essex County Tournament and Non-Public A state titles; and while veteran head coach Angelo Del Vecchio is not taking anything for granted when it comes to keeping the pedal to the metal with his No. 5 ranked team in the state and top seed in the ECT.
“I keep stressing to the girls that we can do even better and keep improving, while continuing to tighten up on defense,” said the Lions’ ninth-year head mentor. “Winning a county title is not going to be easy at all.
“I was taking to (Livingston) coach Brian Carr and he agreed with me that there are a lot of teams in our conference who are very tough to play, and we both know that if you ever take one of those teams lightly that they can definitely knock you off.”
Looking at the higher seeds to keep any eye on in the 2025 ECT field, state-ranked Livingston, which dropped a recent, hard-fought 3-2 overtime regular-season decision to the Mount, is the No. 2 seed followed by a-dangerous third-seeded Verona along with No. 4 Montclair, which has faced one of the toughest schedules in the state this season, and there are also others to watch such as No. 5 Montclair Kimberley Academy, No. 6 West Essex, No. 7 Newark Academy and No. 8 Glen Ridge.
The 2025 ECT girls soccer field, which was assembled on Tuesday, Oct. 14, has 23 teams that have entered. The action should really pick up as the quarterfinals approach on Thursday, Oct. 23, with all ‘Elite 8’ matches played at the higher-seeded team’s field, followed by the Monday, Oct. 27, semifinals (5 and 7 p.m.) at Millburn and the championship game, slated for 7 p.m. – or following the ECT boys final at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 30, at Caldwell’s Bonnel Field.
Livingston (10-2-1), which is ranked No. 13 in the state by nj.com, has won the last two ECT titles.
The Mount (14-0), which has reached three ECT semis but has never played in a championship game, with the most recent Final 4 appearance being in 2023, knows the uncertainty of traversing the field as a No. 1 seed having lost to Verona in last season’s quarterfinals in a shootout.
This season’s Mount squad does appear even deeper and certainly with more experience than its previous squad; plus the Lions should have standout Vanderbilt University commit Lena Tusche for the entire tournament stretch this time around after she missed six games last year down the stretch of the 2024 season when she was a member of the Columbian women’s U-17 national team participating in the FIFA World Cup.
The versatile Tusche (17 goals, 13 assists) combines with the Princeton-bound Gianna Camporeale (team-leading 20 goals and 14 assists) to form a particularly potent 1-2 punch. Tusche is an attacking midfielder who patrols both ends of the pitch, while Camporeale is a terrific striker.
“They both complement each other very well,” said Del Veccho. “And, they are also best friends and our team chemistry overall is just outstanding.”
Among the other standouts to help control the middle of the field are senior Jacqueline Karcic, a steadying force as a holding center midfielder, junior outside midfielders Sophia Giordano (13 goals, 9 assists) and Reina Casas (Arizona State commit).
Karcic scored the game-winning goal off a rebound in the thrilling OT win vs. Livingston.
