Girls SoccerThe Hopewell Valley Central High School girls soccer team continued to play well this past week, going unbeaten in three contests.
By: Steve Feitl
On Sept. 19, the Lady Bulldogs (6-1-1) defeated West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 4-1. Then on Friday, Hopewell earned a 1-1 tie with Colonial Valley Conference foe West Windsor-Plainsboro South.
The Lady Bulldogs then traveled to Allentown on Monday and returned home with a 2-0 victory.
Against North, the goals came from Alison Moriarty, Katie Ryan, Linsey Jones and Melissa Conley. The Lady Bulldogs were aided by assists from Abby Brewster, Moriarty, Melissa Conley and Amanda Bradshaw.
Heidi Rarich had four saves, as Hopewell outshot North, 21-8.
"We really dominated the game," according to head coach Mike LoRicco," "but North is playing better ball this year, including only losing to South by one goal."
The Lady Bulldogs didn’t have to wait long to see just how tough South is this season.
Conley scored late in the game, off an assist from Amanda Nini, to allow Hopewell to escape with the tie.
"We scored late in the game to tie," LoRicco said. "It was a really good battle. It’s always a good game. It always has a state tournament atmosphere to it. Plus playing at night had a good feel to it as well."
LoRicco also credited Sheila Conlon, who stepped up at the sweeper position to give the Lady Bulldogs the spark they needed.
"We got a really good game from Sheila Conlon at sweeper," he said. "We were waiting for someone to step up. She’d been playing well so far, but she stepped up and solidified us back there."
In the Allentown game, both goals were scored by sophomore Beth Hagerty. Assists were awarded to Sarah Spenser and Bradshaw.
Both goals came late in the game, and LoRicco felt his team took a while to get going.
"We didn’t play real well," he said. "With the drive to Allentown, we only get eight minutes to warm up. It was a tight field. The girls like to play wide, but every ball to the outside went out of bounds."
Sports writer Matt Nalbone contributed to this article.

