Allentown makes history with program’s first sectional title
ALLENTOWN » There was no way the Allentown High girls soccer team was going to walk off the field without having made history.
Ever since the Redbirds suffered their only defeat, back in the Mercer County Tournament final, this moment was all they thought about. Now they can celebrate it. Emma Pascarella and Olivia Ricci scored first-half goals, Abby Howell made two clutch saves in the final 12 minutes and topseeded Allentown came from behind to beat sixth-seeded Toms River East, 2-1, in the Central Jersey Group III championship game on Thursday afternoon.
The Redbirds (20-1) captured a sectional title for the first time in program history and advanced to next Tuesday’s Group III semifinal against South Jersey champ Ocean City (19-3-1), which beat Cherry Hill West in a shootout.
“The newspaper came out the other day with the headline ‘History on the Horizon’ and that was motivation for the team and me,” Pascarella said. “To have this win, it’s the best feeling ever. I’m on Cloud Nine.”
Pascarella’s 17th goal couldn’t have come at a better time since it arrived 35 seconds after Jillian Conklin scored her 34th to give the Raiders (13-5-1) a 13th-minute lead.
Pascarella, the Rutgers-bound junior, put in a Player of the Year worthy performance. She worked tirelessly as a target forward, made every ball stick and repeatedly picked out either Olivia Denney or Ricci, the two freshmen wingers, who ran circles around Toms River East’s outside backs.
Her goal, a looping 25-yard effort, wasn’t too shabby either.
“Emma,” coach Kim Maurer said, “best game all year. One-hundred percent.”
Pascarella’s tally swung the momentum in Allentown’s favor and four minutes later Ricci converted from the spot after Denney was hauled down inside the box.
“(Against) Steinert, they scored and we immediately put our heads down,” Pascarella said. “For this game, I told the team, if they score on us we better pick up our heads and get back into it because we’re not losing this game.”
This was a feisty end-to-end contest that felt every bit like a sectional final.
And it was the visitors who went in front on a counter attack immediately after the Redbirds’ Marin Hartshorn hit the crossbar with a header. Conklin, who broke Steinert hearts in the semifinal with a pair of second-half goals, wiggled free, and although Howell made the initial save, the Monmouth-bound senior collected the rebound and scored.
That, however, was the most room Conklin found from the run of play. Alex Searing drew the initial assignment and when her calf finally gave out, Carly Roche took charge in the second half.
“I was so happy to take the responsibility of it,” Roche said. “I knew Alex was feeling tired toward the end of the game, and I was happy to take it off of her hands. She was definitely getting annoyed with me, but I was happy to do that for the team.”
Allentown dominated the opening 15 minutes of the second half