Girls Lacrosse
By: Matt Nalbone
The girls lacrosse team from Hopewell Valley continued its season this past week with two more games, both of them ending in HoVal wins.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 9-1 on the year with their only loss to the No. 2 team in the state, Shawnee.
The first team of the week to fall victim to the Hopewell girls was Hun, who went down in a 13-8 game.
Senior Kaley Bell led the offensive attack scoring four goals, while Abby Brewster scored twice and handed out one assist.
Seven other players scored one goal apiece in what was a very balanced attack. Amanda Bradshaw had four assists to go along with her goal and Mary Kate Mannix got her first of the year.
Alissa Molinelli had one goal and one assist, while Caitlin Lane, Allison Moriarity, Beth Hagerty and Shirah Hamor each scored once.
Sue Bielamowicz started in goal once again, picking up 10 saves before being relieved by Kim Raschdorf, who got five saves of her own in relief duty.
The outcome of the game was never in question as Hopewell jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead and was up, 10-3, at the half.
"After the first 10 minutes of the game, we were able to put our subs in," said head coach Sara Wagner. "They scored five of their goals late in the game so it wasn’t really as close as the score might indicate."
Jessie Prewitt was excellent of defense as she had to guard Hun’s leading scorer and shut her down all day.
Hopewell took some time in the game to work on a few things and the coach was proud of the results.
"We worked on draw control," Wagner explained. "We wanted to win 80 percent of the face-offs and we did. It gave the girls a sense of how important draws are in winning a game."
The other match up for the girls was against Old Bridge a game that finished in a 13-2 Hopewell win.
This game was marked by a milestone, as Melissa Conley scored her 100th varsity goal a feat similar to a basketball player scoring 1,000 points.
She tallied four in the game and finished with 101 for her career so far.
"She is remarkably consistent," said a proud coach Wagner. "The amazing thing is that she did it in less than three years. She also has 95 career assists so not only does she score, but she helps her teammates also."
Lane scored twice more for HoVal, and Katie DiBiase stepped up from defense to score her first varsity goal.
Hopewell continues to share the wealth as six others scored in yet another balanced attack. Scoring once each were Brewster, Bradshaw, Beth Hagerty, Moriarity, Bell and Molinelli.
Bielamowicz and Raschdorf split time in the net once again, making nine stops total in the win.
The score was 11-0 at the half, so once again Hopewell took the opportunity to work on some things.
"I’m very happy with our possession," Wagner said. "We made the smart passes and didn’t force them in. Abby (Brewster) is really playing consistent. She does all the little things that don’t show up in the paper. She works hard for the ball and has been working well with Alissa (Molinelli) on their passing."
With this past week not providing any close games, maybe next week will bring a greater challenge for Hopewell.
After a game against PDS, the girls will play East Brunswick and then Newark Academy on Monday.