Allentown’s Pascarella takes CVC Player of the Year

Emma Pascarella knew the Allentown High girls soccer team had the pieces in place to be a serious contender in the Colonial Valley Conference.

The Redbirds turned out to be much more than that.

Pascarella posted 19 goals and 21 assists for a league-best 59 points and Allentown went on to an undefeated CVC regular season before a remarkable run to the program’s first ever Group III state championship.

The junior forward is the CVC Player of the Year.

“I’m going to thank all of (my teammates),” Pascarella said. “They’re why everything happened this year. It’s great.”

Steinert’s Giana Pittaro, Allentown’s Carly Roche and Hopewell Valley’s Julie Cane were also in the running for the honor.

Pascarella scored 10 goals in each of her first two years, but made a huge leap in her junior season. She committed to Rutgers University over the summer and then showed why she’s a Big Ten level player with a breakout campaign.

“She’s got talent around her that she was able to feed the ball off to,” Redbirds coach Kim Maurer said. “She trusted the other players. I think that’s where she improved the most, knowing she didn’t have to do it all herself.”

Maurer also had a defined role for Pascarella as a target forward in her 4-2-3-1 system.

That was most evident during Allentown’s push to the Group III state title when Pascarella scored three goals and had five assists in the team’s five victories.

She was at her best in the final three of those games, scoring once in the sectional final, twice in the state semifinal and then assisting on both goals in the state final.

“She’s become so much more of a dynamic player,” Roche said. “She’s learned to move from side to side, get corners for us ... and that’s made the most difference for us because she knows what she has to do and she knows what works now.”

The Redbirds jumped from 12 wins to a program-record 22, making Maurer the CVC Coach of the Year.

“She had big expectations for us,” Pascarella said. “We had to meet them.”

That they did.

“This means everything, and especially to do it with these girls,” Pascarella said, “I couldn’t be happier.”

JOHN BLAINE — FOR THE TRENTONIAN Allentown’s Emma Pascarella finished with a Colonial Valley Conference best 19 goals and 21 assists as the Redbirds went undefeated in the league and captured the Group III state title game.