Pennington captures 13th Prep A state title
PENNINGTON » Kylie Daigle had been waiting all season to score a hat trick for the Pennington School girls soccer team. Little did she expect it would happen in the New Jersey Independent Schools Athletic Association Prep A final.
The freshman who grew up in Millville took care of all of the scoring in the game as the Red Raiders won their 13th Prep A title with a 3-0 victory over Hun at Tom Liwosz Field.
Daigle had already proven how effective she can be in Pennington’s attack before their second meeting with the Raiders.
In their regular-season game Sept. 26, Daigle had tallied twice in the second half to give the Red Raiders a 2-1 road win.
This time, she scored a pair of goals in the first half to point Pennington toward the title it had lost to Oak Knoll Academy a year ago.
“Our senior class has been unselfish from the beginning of the season. They never wanted this season to be just about them,” RedRaiders co-head coachDr. Bill Hawkey said of his eight seniors. “That’swhy they allowed the freshmenand other young players get in there and do their thing.”
That system, which included many more substitutions because of a deeper bench, worked quite well for Hawkey and co-head coach Patrick Murphy as their team finished 14-1-1.
Daigle made things more comfortable for the home club after scoring six minutes in when she converted a pass from sophomore teammate Ellie Hawkey.
“An early goal is always the best goal,” Daigle said. “I felt like we had it after that first one because when you score that early, it pumps up the team and gives it the energy to get the job done.”
Daigle knew better than to be satisfied. Even with Pennington controlling play and limiting Hun’s chanceswith senior co-captain Olivia Mahony sweeping in front of freshmangoalkeeperMia Justus, Daigle kept pressing forward.
When Hawkey re-entered the game with 15 minutes left in the first half, she again teamed up with Daigle for a second goal when Hun could not get the ball away fromtheir netwith 13:38 remaining.
“The last game she had two goals against us and shot at the far post both times,” Hun junior goalkeeper Leah Sutphen said of Daigle. “I was trying to cut down her angles better, and we were trying to shut her out this time. I think our team got worn down after a while.”
Fatigue may have shown on the second goal, but there was nothing Sutphen (13 saves) could do when Daigle took a pass from senior Shannon Boyce and unleashed a high, arching blast from 25 yards away which sailed over the defense and goalie into the far upper-90 of the net seven minutes after intermission.
“When you are up against a team with so much depth and talent, it’s hard, but I thought our girls fought hard to give us a chance,” said Hun head coach Joanna Hallac, whose squad was without the services of junior forward Bryonna Worthy, who got injured in the upset of defending championOak Knoll, 3-2, in Tuesday’s semifinal round.
Hallac’s 9-7 team, which enteredwith four wins in a rowand is still in line for theMid-Atlantic Prep League title when it plays at Mercersburg Academy on Sunday, waswhere it wanted to be— back in the Prep A final three years after winning it all. Hun simply did not have enough answers for Daigle and Co.
“I’ve been wanting to score a hat trick, but I kept getting just two goals,” Daigle said. “I can’t believe it happened in the final.” Daigle 3 (P).
Hawkey 2, Boyce (P).
4 (H), 16 (P). Sutphen 13 (H), Justus 4 (P).