Mia Fiorentino and Olivia DeGirolamo kick Ocean past Shore in the 2024 Mya Cup

Ocean Township mayor John Napolitani, Sr., holds a picture of Mya Linn Terry while Kelly Terry, Mya’s mom and current councilwoman, address the crowd at the 13th Annual Mya’s Cup.

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Mya Linn Terry should be 23 years old, sadly she passed away 13 years ago at the tender age of 10. When Mya was in kindergarten her teacher noticed that the young girls neck was swollen. Mya’s parents immediately took her to the doctor and within hours, Mya was admitted to the hospital.

Mya was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, T-cell stage III. For two years Mya underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments. In 2009, the family received devastating news. Mya had acute myeloid leukemia, a rare cancer. This little brave warrior fought the battle, but on April 10, 2013 Mya earned her wings losing her fight.

Following young Mya’s death, her mom, Kelly Terry, started the Mya Linn Terry Foundation with the help of family and friends. Over the past 13 years, the foundation has raised over $1.5 million and have helped over 200 local children suffering from cancer. The foundation calls these youngsters, “Mya’s Warriors.” Unfortunately, 61 have passed and are known as “Mya’s Angels.”

Thirteen years ago the Ocean Township High School girls’ varsity soccer team organized the first Mya Cup game. Gabby Hagerman and Alex Pickett were just two of the players who had organized the game as a fundraiser. Now in 2024, Pickett is the head coach of the Spartans, and was also Mya’s cousin. “This is a fantastic tradition here at Ocean and I am proud to be a part of it, kids helping kids to kick cancer’s butt, one game at a time,” said Terry.

Also getting a big shoutout from Terry was Kasey Pickett, Terry’s sister, and Beth Conti. “This night could not take place without all of their help and that of Alex. And wow, wow, wow shouts of thanks to the Ocean Township boys’ soccer teams, who blew up donations over the past two days. I am still counting their contributions to this event,” said Terry.

The 2024 May Cup proceeds are going to a young girl, Valeria, from Eatontown. “She was recently diagnosed with a pediatric cancer called meduloblastoma. Unfortunately, Valeria is in active treatment and unable to join us tonight,” added Terry.

If you would like to donate to the foundation

https://www.themyalinterryfoundation.org/

Ocean Township junior midfielder Lucy Wood (6) takes a shot on the Shore Regional goal as Alex Klein (10) sophomore from Shore Regional defends.

The opponents in the 2024 Mya Cup were the Blue Devils of Shore Regional, who came into Ocean with a 8-8-1 overall record and are undefeated at 6-0 in the B North division of the Shore Conference.

The Spartans started the game with a 7-9-1 overall record and were 2-3-1 in the A Central division. Isabella Santucci, senior who set the school record of five goals in a single game this season, was not playing in the Mya Cup due to a grade two ankle sprain.

The first half of the game was scoreless. However, Sofia Merten, senior goal keeper for the Blue Devils, made 14 amazing saves in the net. A few of those were back-to-back-to-back saves after multiple shots and rebounds taken by the Spartans.

Ocean struck first in the second half with a goal by Mia Fiorentino, a sophomore forward. Assisting on the goal was Avery Ohara, sophomore midfielder. The winning goal was kicked in by Olivia DeGirolamo, senior midfielder. In the goal for Ocean was Grace Fuller, junior, who had two saves in the victory.

Shore Regional had Hayden Neuhaus, senior, in goal for the second half. She finished with 10 saves, and all of them were on difficult shots.

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