Hopewell holds off Ewing to begin title defense

HOPEWELL TWP. » Although the Hopewell Valley girls soccer side was able to successfully open the defense of its Mercer County Tournament championship with a 1-0 victory over Ewing on Thursday night, other than the fact they won things did not go the way the Valley Girls would have preferred.

For openers, 12th-seeded Ewing (4-11) really came to play and with a break or two could easily have extended this game into extra time.

Also not helping matters was one of Hopewell’s top attackers Sam Barnes was carted away early in the first half with what appeared to be a serious injury.

Next up for fifth-seeded Hopewell (10-6-2) in the MCT will be a Saturday home game against 13th-seeded Hightstown, which stunned fourth-seeded Notre Dame on penalty kicks.

“Ewing has a lot of speed and on our big field you could really see them use it,” said Hopewell’s highly successful coach John McGinley. “Ewing played a great game. This could have gone either way.”

Ewing came out storming and came very close to taking the lead early in the first half.

First, standout Jules Murrill lofted the ball over charging Hopewell Valley keeper Sarah Ouslander, only to see her shot cleared off the line at the last second.

The diminutive-but-dynamite Murrill is adept at attacking down the left wing before cutting back and using her right foot to create havoc in the box.

A few minutes later Ewing’s Bobie Custis unleashed a bomb that slammed into the crossbar before bouncing away out of danger. And that was followed by a diving save by Ouslander on a shot that appeared destined for the corner of the net.

Although Hopewell Valley had survived the Blue Devils’ early onslaught, things didn’t get any better for the Valley Girls when Barnes fell awkwardly and suffered the shoulder injury.

“Sam is a senior and a great kid,” said McGinley “It’s a big loss, but our other players are just going to have to step up to fill in for her.”

Barnes’ loss didn’t seem to slow down the Hopewell at this stage of the game and the only goal followed at the 21:15 mark of the first half when Emily DeNero scored off a pass from Ava Tillman. DeNero’s shot was from point blank and beat the Blue Devils’ capable keeper Mary Bystrycki.

There was no more scoring and not a lot great chances for either team over the final 60 minutes. The best chance for Ewing in the second half came when sophomore Yah’rai Rodriguez was left all alone in the box, only to blast a shot that hooked wide of goal.

The competitive nature of the game was reflected in the fact each team had eight shots. For much of the second half Ewing more than held its own in terms of possession and in late stages of the game the Blue Devils were able to force several corners as they furiously attacked.

Ewing (4-11) Hopewell (10-6-2) 00—0 1 0 — 1

DeNero (HV).

Tillman (HV).

8 (E). 8 (HV).

Bystrycki 3 (E). Ouslander 3 (HV).