Hopewell pulls away from Nottingham in 2nd half
HOPEWELL TWP. >> Claire Garrity reminded her Hopewell Valley field hockey teammates at the half of the last time they faced Nottingham.
The senior’s words worked to perfection as the Bulldogs took care of the business in the final period.
Getting three second-half goals, Hopewell Valley took a 4-0 win over the Northstars on Tuesday in a North Jersey 2, Group III first-round game played at HV’s Ackerson Field.
The No. 5 Bulldogs advance to play No. 4 Millburn (12-8) in the quarterfinals scheduled for Oct. 29.
The loss drops the 12th seeded Northstars to 3-15-1 on the season.
The first meeting between these two ended in a 2-2 tie with the Northstars rallying in the second half.
“We talked a lot about coming out with confidence and intensity,” said Garrity. “We didn’t want them to take anything from us. This time we knew if we didn’t win this would be the end of our season.”
The Bulldogs’ season is alive and they did it with seven players collecting points.
Kelsey Fithen, Francesca Sferra, Avery Bell and Gabriella Gomez all scored, while Garrity, Kileigh Pfluger, and Ava Tartaglia had assists.
Garrity and Bell are two seniors looking to prolong their high school career as long as possible, Sferra is a junior and Gomez, who is a sophomore, tallied the second goal of her young career.
“We had a little rough start with the MCT so we are really taking the state’s seriously,” said Bell, referring to the first round MCT loss to Ewing. “We wanted to come out with a lot of intensity and last night we had a psych party for this game. We started strong and we want to get the next round and get to the end. So we are working hard.”
Despite getting Fithen’s goal early, the Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize on other opportunities and the Northstars defense kept it close. Brianna Dunmeyer had 15 saves for Nottingham.
The record might not reflect it, but this has been a pretty successful season for Nottingham. The wins are higher, the numbers in the program are up, and most importantly, the drive to improve.
“They played a very as I could have expected them to play,” said Nottingham coach Jen Cicale. “We’ve had better year and I think it has do with fitness level and dedication and love of the game.”
Hopewell Valley showed its love in the second half with the three goals and a defense that denied the Northstars any chances on goal.
“I’m proud of how hard they played we worked on a lot of things,” said coach Pam Edwards. “A lot of kids executed today and it was good to see. The tournament is a season within itself. We have high expectations. The first half we had opportunities and in the second half we put ourselves in better position.” (HV). Fithen, Gomez, Bell, Sferra (HV). Garrity, Tartaglia, Fithen, Pfluger
0 (N). 19 (HV). Dunmeyer 15 (N). Tieku 0 (HV).