Notre Dame navigates rain to hold off Hopewell
LAWRENCE >> Winning is always satisfying to some degree, but doing so while persevering through steady rain and wind against a county rival?
That made for a raucous scene outside Notre Dame’s locker room after the Irish withstood visiting Hopewell Valley, 13-9, Tuesday at Msgr. Walter Nolan Field.
“From the start we tell ourselves every day, ‘We’re playing no matter what the weather is,’ so we were all hyped up for this game for sure,” senior attackman Matt Sellers said. “We’ve had a bit of a rivalry over the years. The games are usually close. We knew it was going to be a dogfight, and with the conditions it was going to be sloppy. We needed to stay focused and not get down on ourselves.”
Sellers topped all scorers with four goals and two assists. Dean Szatkowski added three goals, while Sam Stephan and Patrick Larkin chipped in two apiece for what was a balanced Notre Dame attack despite the soaked turf.
“A few kids were losing their footing,” Sellers said. “The one main thing will be passes sometimes will go low. The first couple shots in the first quarter maybe some guys missed ones that we usually make, but you get used to it.”
After Hopewell’s Nick DeGennaro netted the game’s first goal 46 seconds in, the Irish (6-5) responded by scoring the next six to end the first quarter. That hot start afforded Notre Dame enough of a buffer to hold off the Bulldogs (29), who won the second and third quarters and pulled within 7-9 at the start of the fourth.
Daniel Brady saved 12 shots in net for the Irish.
“We really prepared really well and we faced two zone teams in West Windsor South and Ocean City before this game, so it gave us some good practice and good competition before we played Hopewell,” Notre Dame coach Mike Andersen said. “They put a lot of pressure on our hands, and it was a great job by them to keep the ball moving quick.”
Once Hopewell clawed within two goals, Notre Dame scrounged four of the next five scores within the ensuing three minutes.
During that stretch, Sellers took over the game with two goals and two assists. With 5:17 remaining, the High Point University commit muscled his way inside and scored unassisted to push the Irish’s lead to 13-8.
“Throughout the game you kind of read the defense, see what they’re doing and then let the game come to you in the fourth quarter,” Sellers said. “Our midfielders were moving off ball, so they make it pretty easy.”
Now with three consecutive wins, Notre Dame’s relatively young team is limiting its unforced turnovers and gaining confidence, Andersen said, with the Mercer County Tournament nine days away.
“Our younger guys have got a few more games to get their feet wet,” Sellers said. “We’re really starting to pull away now, so hopefully we get hot for MCTs.” Lieboff 3, DeGennaro 3, Scarlatella, Abey, Crognale (HV), Sellers 4, Szatkowski 3, Stephan 2, Larkin 2, Henig, Kolano (ND). DeGennaro, Crognale (HV), Henig 3, Sellers 2, Stephan (ND). 35 (HV), 43 (ND). Meredith 5 (HV), Brady 12 (ND).