Allentown rues missed chances in loss to Manalapan
ALLENTOWN >> A few weeks from now, Kim Maurer will expect her Allentown girls soccer team to win this game.
At present, with almost an entirely new lineup from the side that reached the Mercer County Tournament final a year ago, the Redbirds are still trying to find what works best.
“We only have one girl returning in the same position, so they’re still getting their feet wet,” Maurer said following a 1-0 non-league setback against Manalapan on Monday afternoon. “It’s only Game 5 for us, we still have a long way to go.”
The results so far are a pair of wins over the bottom of the CVC and three losses against toptier opponents. They’ve been competitive in two of those defeats and were unlucky to not get anything against highlyranked Hopewell Valley.
That was the case once again on Monday when the Braves’ Mya Donnelly took her chance in the 65th minute, and Allentown misfired in front of goal.
“We can (compete) with the top teams,” Maurer said. “It’s those last 15 minutes of every game. It’s like we let up a goal. Hopewell we did it, here we did it. They’re Group 4 and (we) held our own.”
Only Donnelly’s goal, which he scored after Taylor Acevedo got to the end line and pulled a cross back for the senior to finish first time, separated two evenly matched teams.
Manalapan (6-1), whose loss is to Freehold Township, outshot the hosts 20-14, but the sides were nearly equal in the amount of quality opportunities.
Allentown’s best chance fell to sophomore Alex Searing one minute after falling behind. Alyssa Sloane and Emma Pascarella worked a quick passing sequence to free up Searing, but Braves goalkeeper Ariel Kamen made a diving save.
Freshman Vanessa Rodriguez flashed a header wide from inside the sixyard box with five minutes to go after a nice cross from Sydney Regina.
“We got to capitalize in the final third,” Maurer said. “That’s been our issue.”
Abby Howell finished with seven saves for the Redbirds (2-3).
The sophomore’s best stop came in the first half when she parried Kathryn DeLuca’s effort straight up in the air and collected the rebound before it could be tapped in by a Manalapan player.
Allentown’s best moments came when Pascarella, a promising sophomore, received the ball on the half-turn and ran at the Braves’ back four.
She forced Kamen into one of her seven saves late in the first half with a 25-yard shot that was headed for the bottom corner.
Pascarella, coming off Second Team All-CVC honors in her freshman season, has dropped from the forward line to an attacking midfield role.
“That’s why she’s there because she’s got great vision,” Maurer said. “She distributes well, she sees the field, so if I put her up top, it’s who gets her the ball. She gets the ball and she can make plays.”
The next step is to finish them off.