Boys Soccer
By: Matt Nalbone
The Hopewell Valley Central High School boys soccer team is off to one of its best starts in years. The Bulldogs played three more games over the past week with some very familiar results.
First up for the Bulldogs was the first-ever meeting between Hopewell and the new West Windsor-Plainsboro North. The game was switched from Hopewell’s home field to Zimmer field in Lawrence because rain the day before left the field unplayable.
The new guys on the block came out strong and held a 1-0 lead after only a few minutes. They were aided however by some questionable officiating when Andrew Gavin was sent off the field with a red card, leaving Hopewell having to play with only 10 men for most of the game.
West Windsor-Plainsboro North was then awarded a penalty kick, which they converted giving them the lead. It was short lived as Hopewell came back strong and put North down for good, winning 5-2 in the end.
Colonial Valley Conference-leading scorer Matt Katz led the way once again scoring twice, both times on assists from Joe Bonacci. Bonacci also had two goals of his own including one on a pass from Emmerik Leighten. Justin Gregory had the other Hopewell goal with Katz picking up the assist.
Freshman Joey Hartman was solid in goal once again, making four saves and getting plenty of help from his defense.
"It was a big-time effort from our guys," coach Tony Suozzo said. "It was tough for us having to play the last 76 minutes of a game with 10."
The middle game of the three-game stretch had the other West Windsor-Plainsboro team pitted against Hopewell – this game being played at Mercer County Park Friday. The match-up between the two powerhouse teams did not disappoint, especially for Hopewell fans as they came out of a hard-fought game with a 4-3 win.
Katz was his usual dominant self, scoring two goals, including one on a bicycle kick from outside the 18-yard box that found the corner of the net. Steve Berei and Gregory tallied the other goals for Hopewell as they won this back and forth game.
After taking a 1-0 lead, Hopewell struggled for the remainder of the half, finding themselves down 2-1 at the break.
The Bulldogs regrouped at half-time and came out strong and then held on at the end and escaped with a win to remain unbeaten this year.
Monday, CVC-newcomer Allentown welcomed Hopewell to its field for the first game between the schools in quite some time. The two teams engaged in a defensive battle in the rain, with the outcome in doubt for about 85 minutes. But with five minutes left in regulation, Bonacci slipped one past the goalie to give the Bulldogs a victory.
"I didn’t care if it was a 1-0 win or a 10-0 win," Suozzo said. "The weather didn’t help us either, but we’ll take the win."