Stuart’s late stand holds off Pennington
PRINCETON — The range of emotions for Stuart ran from the ecstatic to extremely cautious in the final five minutes.
The jubilation came when Julie Mazer scored to put the Tartans a goal in front. The scary part came in the final seconds when Pennington was putting the pressure on the Stuart goal.
“Whew,” said Stuart goalie Margaret LaNasa of realizing the final Pennington attempt had rolled wide and Stuart earned a 2-1 win yesterday on the turf in a tight prep battle.
Stuart (2-5) had lost five straight, but it showed it has been improving every practice and every game. The win was also a birthday present for assistant coach and former Stuart great Gia Fruscione.
Pennington (2-3), which was playing just its second game in almost two weeks, never seemed to get in a flow. Yet, the Red Raiders had a penalty corner with 1.8 seconds left to knot the score.
“This is this group’s first come-from-behind win,” said Stuart coach Missy Bruvik, who returned to the sidelines this season after a four-year hiatus. “It was a rival game. We had some great runs down the side. But our goal has been to just teach them the game.”
Stuart’s freshmen-dominated front line requires most of the teaching. There are eight freshmen on the roster and five sophomores.
Mazer is one of those freshmen, and it was her goal with 4:50 left off a pass from Amy Hallowell that proved to be the game winner.
The score capped off a two-goal run that was only necessary because of Pennington’s Katie Widemayer, who scored just over two minutes into the second half for a 1-0 Red Raider advantage.
“We have to get hungrier,” Pennington coach Wendy Morris, who is missing two starters. “I felt Stuart wanted it more. I thought the goal would be the spark. We’ve had a problem finishing. We are still trying to figure out who goes where. We have a lot of inexperience.”
Stuart challenged every loose ball and with 14:45 left in the game Sarah Barkley took a pass from Hallowell in front and tucked it in cage to tie the game at 1-1.
“This is a great game for us because we’ve had kind of a down season,” said Barkley. “A game like this will get our spirits up. We have a lot of young players and it’s good for them to have a win.”
Still, Pennington’s penalty corner had to be played out. Stuart defended it, letting out a long, loud sigh of relief.
“I was just thinking that this is it,” said LaNasa of the final attempt. “I knew the team was depending on me. A corner makes it more stressful and at the same time less stressful. I have the defenders right there with me.”
WW-P South 2, WW-P North 1 PLAINSBORO — Colby Hussong and Kate McCormick tallied for the visitors, who claimed school-district bragging rights with the double-overtime victory.
Catherine Mack netted for the Knights.
Hightstown 6, Lawrence 0 HIGHTSTOWN — The Rams improved to 6-1 behind two goals each from Kelly Mankowich and Olivia Ernst.
PDS 1, So. Hunterdon 1 LAMBERTVILLE — Corinne Urisko tallied for the Panthers and Sarah Trigg made six saves helping them hold on for the tie.
New Egypt 2, Florence 1 FLORENCE — Courtney Stilwell scored both goals, including the overtime winner for the Warriors, who were able to complete the near-impossible task of keeping Lexi Smith off the scoresheet.
Heather Horner tallied for the Flashes.
Bordentown 7, Burlington City 0 BURLINGTON — Three Scotties — Sarah Shultz, Kacie Stettner and Lauren Sontupe — got their first varsity and Suzy Mansour had 3 saves as Bordentown shut out Burlington City.
TENNIS Montgomery 4, Peddie 1 SKILLMAN — Michelle Hung picked up the only victory for the Falcons (3-3) at first singles, winning 6-3, 7-6 (8).
Hun 4, Pennington 1 PRINCETON — Shayna Glassberg, Steph Taylor and Lauren Kotler swept the singles competition for the Raiders (1-2). The Red Raiders’ (2-3) only victory came courtesy of Nina Brander and Francesca DeSapio at second doubles.
Moorestown 5, TCA 0 MOORESTOWN — Leslie Henry was the only Iron Mike to win a game, falling 6-1, 6-1 at second singles. Breezy Maravich set the pace for Quakers, winning at first singles.
VOLLEYBALL Agnes Irwin 3, Lawrenceville 2 LAWRENCEVILLE — The Big Red dropped a tough five-setter to Agnes Irwin. After dropping the first game 25-20, L’ville rallied twice to win the second and fourth sets to force a deciding fifth set, but dropped that one, 15-12.