Whitlock sisters connect to give Notre Dame win over Hopewell
LAWRENCE » The Whitlock sisters might not practice the long throw-in connection at home, but you wouldn’t know it by watching them on the pitch.
Taylor Whitlock headed in her Morgan’s long throw with 5:30 remaining in the second half and the Notre Dame girls soccer team pulled out a 2-1 victory over Hopewell Valley on Saturday afternoon in a contest that looked destined for overtime.
“After a year of playing with her on varsity last year, it started to click,” Taylor said. “I suppose we hoped to get one (from the long throw). We had like eight minutes left and we had to get a girl. We all had to get a body (part) on it, and it came to me.”
Morgan’s long throw-in has become a great weapon for Notre Dame, and she’s collected a handful of assists from it this season.
“We hate to rely on those throws for goals, but sometimes when we’re down or we’re tied like we were today, that’s what we use,” Irish coach Victoria Camera said. “Anytime there’s an opportunity, we’ll have her throw. It’s like a corner kick basically and we hope we can get something off it. It landed in the right place on the right girls head.”
Notre Dame (10-4-1) has won eight straight games, putting an 0-3 start firmly in the rearview mirror.
The Irish picked up the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Mercer County Tournament and could face this same Hopewell squad, the No. 5 seed, in the quarterfinals next Saturday.
“We dug ourselves into a hole, so we had to dig ourselves out,” Taylor said. “If we really wanted it, it was important for us to practice hard every single day and put the work in.”
Camera, the first-year coach, thought her team might take some bumps early since the schedule was so challenging. Two of the Irish’s four losses are against teams ranked in the state’s top 20 and three of the four are from outside the county.
Notre Dame scored just once in those four setbacks, something they’ve worked hard to rectify during this winning streak.
“We were still sorting some things out,” Camera said. “I didn’t see this team last year, so we moved some girls around and altered our formation a little bit. Scoring was a big factor that was keeping our confidence low and as soon we put some goals in the net, it opened up the game.”
Megan Drum gave the Irish a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute when she got the final touch after a mad scramble inside the six-yard box.
Hopewell (9-6-1) grew into the contest and equalized with 19 seconds remaining in the first half when Julie Cane tallied her 15th of the season after outstanding hold up play from Emily DeNero to fend off three defenders and slip a pass into her path.
The second half was evenly matched and Cane tested Irish goalkeeper Nicole Rende with a low shot in the 59th minute.
“After the first 20 minutes of the game, we played really well,” McGinley said. “We got some good chances, but we have to be a little tougher in the box.”
McGinley continued to stress patience with a young group that’s coming together. Hopewell defended the long throw brilliantly until the one that finally made the difference.
“Sometimes you have to learn the hard way,” the veteran coach said. “I’m happy with the way we played after the first 20 minutes, but it’s still a learning process. We do have to pick up the pace a little bit.”
Hopewell (9-6-1) Notre Dame (10-4-1) 1 0—1 1 1— 2
Cane (HV). Drum, TWhitlock (ND). DeNero (HV). TWhitlock, MWhitlock (ND). 8 (HV). 11 (ND).
Ouslander 6 (HV). Rende 5 (ND).