Four still standing in quest for MCT title
The Mercer County Tournament Final Four is set and should prove to be an interesting pair of games at Mercer County College.
Secondseeded Allentown tangles with sixthseeded Princeton at 5:30 p.m. and topseeded defending champions Lawrenceville faces fourthseeded Notre Dame in the 7:30 p.m. nightcap.
PRINCETON (9-5-2) VS. ALLENTOWN (13-2) » When these two Colonial Valley Conference teams met in the regular season, the Redbirds, who have won 10 straight games, claimed a 2-1 overtime victory.
Mary Bellotti (21 goals, seven assists) and Sierra Wojcik (six goals, 11 assists) are the two player who direct the Allentown attack.
“The semifinal match sets up to be an exciting one,” said interim Allentown coach Mary Ellen McCarthy. “The Redbirds are focused and working hard in practice and can’t wait for the semifinals.”
Allentown has given up just nine goals during its 10game winning streak and Katie White has a 0.93 goals against average.
Princeton avenged an earlier loss to Robbinsville when it came back to beat the Ravens, 2-1, in the quarterfinals.
“I think we’re surprising other teams with our improvement,” said Little tigers coach Heather Serverson. “It’s anybody’s game.”
Mariana Lopez-Ona leads the Tigers with seven goals and five assists, Lisette Dubow has six goals and Isabel Kinney caged five. LAWRENCEVILLE (9-4) VS. NOTRE DAME (13-2-2) » The Big Red have been the dominant program in the MCT the last six years, winning five times.
Lawrenceville has won eight straight games, allowing just three goals in that span.
Ohio State-bound Tess Maloney has 14 goals and nine assists. Meg Barnes chimes in with 10 and three.
Over the last 13 games, the Irish are 11-1-1 and playing their best hockey. They are coming off a very impressive win over No. 5 Princeton Day.
“Lawrenceville is an outstanding team,” said ND coach Barbara Major. “But that’s why we play the game, you never know.”
Major does know she can count on California-bound Maggie Blundi, who has 24 goals and 10 assists and sophomore Cate Buecker, who has 14 goals and four assists.
State Tournament Pairings
After spending years chasing Rumson-Fair Haven in the state tourney, Robbinsville shifted to the Central Jersey bracket and garnered the top seed.
The Ravens face the winner of No. 9 Hopewell Valley at No. 8 Monmouth. Also, in the CJ 3 bracket are No. 7 Lawrence and No. 10 Ewing.
Hightstown is the No. 2 seed in North Jersey 2, Group 3 and awaits the winner of No. 7 Freehold Borough and No. 10 Red Bank Regional. Nottingham is the 11th seed in the bracket and faces No. 6 Middletown North.
Allentown is the two-seed in CJ 3 and awaits the winner of No. 7 Toms River South and No. 10 Steinert. Northern Burlington is the No. 4 seed and plays Jackson Liberty in the second round.
Princeton is the No. 5 seed in CJ 4 and faces No. 4 Lenape in the second round on Oct. 28. Also in the bracket is No. 9 West Windsor-Plainsboro South and they face No. 8 South Brunswick.