Notre Dame outlasts Allentown for sectional crown
ALLENTOWN >> Possession, patience and a gutsy goalie equaled a sectional title for Notre Dame.
When the season began, this was a young Irish team. Now it has grown into a champion.
Second-seeded seeded Notre Dame grabbed an early lead, then fought off a late Allentown rally to capture the first sectional title in the school’s history with an exciting 8-6 win over the top-seeded Redbirds on a damp Thursday afternoon in the Central Jersey Group III final played in Allentown.
The Irish (15-5) will now advance to the state semifinal where it will meet the winner of the South Jersey III final between perennial state champion Moorestown, the No. 1 seed and Seneca, the No. 2 seed. Moorestown and Seneca will be played Friday.
The state semifinal will be held on Tuesday at Toms River North and most likely at 6:30 p.m.
ND grabbed an early 2-0 lead on the Redbirds (13-2), then Allentown tied it 2-2 at 12:42 of the first half. The Irish, using a deliberate tempo and some great saves by freshman Nicole Burney in the cage, saw their lead grow to 7-2 at 9:17 of the final half.
“I really didn’t feel any pressure,’’ said Burney, who finished with 12 saves. “(Assistant) Coach (Bob) Henderson challenged me and got me pumped up for this game. The defense was great in front of me and the attack did what it needed to do up front.’’
The ND defense — and Burney — held the Allentown attack off the scoreboard for 32 minutes and 37 seconds as they built the five-goal lead.
“We had to do what we did,’’ said ND coach Bryan Fisher, who saw the Irish avenge an 8-5 loss to the Redbirds in the first game of the season. “We had to play the game with the lead. Allentown is a tremendous team and so wellcoached by Jen (Garavente). We knew that if we could grab the lead and play our tempo we had a real shot to win this game.’’
It was a win that saw everyone contribute as seven players cracked the scoring column led by senior quarterback Lauren Kiszely, who had a goal and four assists.
“We knew we couldn’t force things,’’ said Kiszely. “This means a lot. It’s the first for our school and the first Central Jersey championship. This is awesome especially since we fell short in the MCT’s. It meant a lot to go out here and get the win.’’
Danielle Losier had two goals for the Irish with Jess Pisani, Ava Scudillo, Maddie Rizzuto, Caroline Doonan and Nicole Clark getting one each.
If there was a crucial goal it was the one Clark caged with 26 seconds left in the game to make it 8-6.
The Redbirds got goals from Danielle Sullivan, Sydney Pado and freshman Brianna Samuels to cut the lead to 7-5 with 3:11 left in the game. Marin Hartshorn and Juliana Golden added goals for the Redbirds.
But, a violation and another save by Burney set the stage for Clark’s goal. Sullivan scored another for Allentown with 13 seconds left for the final score.
“These kids believed we had a shot today and it showed,’’ said Fisher. “It got a little hairy there when they had a three-goal run, but with the fortitude and leadership of the seniors and the leadership of Nicole (Burney), we were able to get the job done.’’
Done the only way the Irish knew it had to be: possession, patience and great goalie play.