Soccer, boys field hockey teams
move into state semifinals
By:Rudy Brandl
The Hillsborough High boys’ soccer and field hockey teams joined their girls’ soccer schoolmates in next week’s state sectional semifinal round with victories Friday.
Top-seeded Hillsborough dismantled No. 8 West Windsor Plainsboro South by a 4-1 margin in the Central Jersey Group 4 boys’ soccer quarterfinals. The Raiders (14-1-1) will host either Manalapan or North Brunswick in the CJ 4 semifinals at Auten Road School next Wednesday.
Veteran head coach Rob Richard cautioned his troops at halftime not to relax with a 1-0 lead. The Raiders responded by dominating the second half.
Tony Flores put the home team ahead in the final minute of the first half but Scott Visnic made it 2-0 in the 55th minute of play on a laser shot into the corner of the net. The Pirates scored a minute later, but the Raiders quickly regrouped and scored two more goals to put the game away.
Lamar Spencer and Danny Reed tallied on assists by Chris Giordano and Flores, respectively. Rob Szymanik stopped nine shots for the shutout.
"My message was that we have to play hard and not let down," said Richard, whose team’s only loss came to Franklin in the Somerset County Tournament in a game it was leading 1-0 at the half. "That was a fluke and I didn’t want that to happen again. The only thing we have left to play for is a state title."
HHS field hockey head coach Kim Flynn celebrated her 30th birthday a day early with a 2-0 victory over Westfield in the quarterfinal round of the North Jersey 2, Group 4 playoffs. It was the second straight year the Raiders knocked out Westfield in the first round of the states.
Amanda Morrison scored off a penalty corner assist from Heather Lavoie in the first half and Jenn Geigert tallied her team-leading 18th goal on a free hit feed by Sarah Lindo in the second half. Raider goalkeepers Dana Scarantino and Sarah Brennan stopped two and five shots, respectively, to combine for the shutout.
"The best present for me is winning the game," said Flynn, who gave her team the weekend off to enjoy the victory. "The best present for them was Saturday off. I told them to take off, rest and come back ready to play."
The HHS field hockey team and both Raider soccer teams will resume state playoff action in hopes of advancing to their sectional finals. For full summaries and articles, see Thursday’s Hillsborough Beacon.