Princeton felled by Rancocas Valley again
PRINCETON >> The first 40 minutes were classic state tournament play as Princeton and Rancocas Valley traded productive possessions.
For Princeton, unfortunately, the final 10 minutes belonged to the Red Devils and their engaging defense and opportunistic attack.
The result saw the No. 2 seeded Tigers fall 13-10 to No. 3 RV on an overcast Tuesday afternoon in the Central Jersey Group IV semifinals played on the turf at Princeton.
Rancocas Valley (14-6), which also eliminated the Tigers in 2016, will now await the winner of No. 1 Freehold Township and No. 5 Marlboro for the CJ III title game.
“We played so well and so tough we are extremely proud,” said Katie Federico, who along with Meg Reilly coached the Tigers in the absence of Sara Doran. “We are very proud of what they were able to do this season.”
Doran was unable to coach do to a red card received two games ago.
When Princeton’s Serena Bolitho converted a free position goal at the 10:36 mark it made it 10-10. It was the eighth time of the game, but it would be the last.
“In the beginning the defense was a little nervous,” said RV coach Sara Shelly. “Then they started top lock it down and play aggressively and more together. We anticipated things well and we made a lot of good adjustments.”
The final three goal run was started when RV freshman Cameron Maruca, who is the daughter of former Lawrence and WW-P North field hockey coach Shannon Maruca, made a great play on a ground ball to start the transition game.
The benefactor was Ashley Orendac, who scored six of the Red Devils last eight goals, including two in the game-winning stretch.
“The effort and the intensity were there it just didn’t come out in our favor,” said Princeton’s Reilly. “Where we got hurt was our caused turnovers. We had a lot of opportunities that could’ve kept us neck-and-neck with them. How they got the lead was the turnovers.”
The Tigers got four goals from sophomore Mariana Lopez-Ona, who finished with a county-best 86 goals.
Bolitho, another sophomore, added a pair of goals and Shayla Marciano, Georgia McLean, Abaigeal Ryan and Eva Petrone all had one goal for Princeton. Marciano added two assists with Kathryn DeMilt, LopezOna and McLean each having one.
Zoe Tesone had six saves in the cage for Princeton.
It was the Mekenzie Montgomery and Orendac show for the Red Devils with enough support in between to pull out the win.
Montgomery got things started scoring RV’s first five goals and then Orendac took over scoring six goals. Azlin Myers and Avery Sweeney each had single goals.
Julianna Corson had three assists and Orendac one. RV goalie Aimee Uibel came up big several times down the stretch to stonewall the Tigers and finished with eight saves.
“I’m fighting back tears right now,” said Princeton senior McLean. “It was a hard fought game and I’ll be excited to be able to come back here and watch these girls I played with.”
Orendac 6, Montgomery 5, Myers, Sweeney (RV). Lopez-Ona 4, Bolitho 2, Marciano, McLean, Ryan, Petrone (PHS). Corson 3, Orendac (RV). Marciano 2, McLean, Lopez-Ona, DeMilt (PHS). Uibel 8 (RV). Tesone 6 (PHS).