Hopewell Valley lacrosse
By: John E. Powers
The Hopewell Valley Central High School lacrosse teams both have proven themselves to be among the elite in New Jersey.
The Hopewell girls team, 3-11 last year, raised its record to 9-4 this year with a 15-4 pounding of West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Friday. Maggie Rarich led the way with five goals, while Claire Grimwood had one. Those two have scored 77 goals this year for the Bulldogs, who opened up a 10-3 lead at halftime and cruised the rest of the way.
The HoVal boys squad, meanwhile, notched two huge wins, defeating Kinnelon 4-3 on May 5 and an 11-9 win over Voorhees two days later. Kinnelon is ranked 11th in the state by www.laxpower.com, and Voorhees is 22nd. The Bulldogs now are ranked 34th.
Tyler Brewster, Eric Doran, Pete Carroll and Greg Reading each scored a goal against Kinnelon, as Hopewell netted one goal each period to win the defensive battle. Tony Christensen made eight saves, while Brewster had two assists, and Carroll notched one assist.
Against Voorhees, HoVal become the first Mercer County team to knock off the Vikings this year, as Reading tallied four goals and an assist. Carroll had three goals and three assists, Brewster had two goals and two assists, Doran had a goal and two assists, and John Squicciarino added a single tally.
On Tuesday, the Bulldogs (9-3) won their fourth in a row, topping New Egypt 18-0. Carroll had five goals and an assist, Doran had three goals and three assists, Reading had two goals and two assists, and Dan Reeves had two goals and two assists to lead the Bulldog barrage.
Hopewell, which was scheduled to play another power 11th-ranked Montclair on Wednesday, will be back in action Tuesday at West Windsor-Plainsboro South.
The HoVal girls team was scheduled to play at Montgomery on Wednesday before finishing the regular season with a game against Hillsborough on Thursday. Edwards said that the team will play Kent Place of Summit next week before the state tournament begins.
But there is a state tournament to prepare for unlike last year, which seems so long ago.
The Bulldogs started out with a 3-1 record and have built a turnaround season that was highlighted by an overtime win over Peddie.
Against South, Rebecca Beyer filled in for No. 1 goalie Izzy Huston, who was being honored for a play she has written and will be performed at McCarter Theatre. Beyer made eight saves, and the defense was outstanding, with Jen Conley, Maureen Gallagher and Katie Mayberry.
"We have nine seniors, but a lot of them haven’t played at a varsity level for more than two years, so this is their second season," Edwards aid. "They went through such a tough season last year. I’m very, very happy for them. As a coach, getting kids to believe in themselves and finally get them to play at their best is beyond a nice feeling. Seeing the kids happy after last season is a really nice thing."
The state tournament cutoff date is next Wednesday, but both HoVal lacrosse teams are comfortably in.
"I think we’d be happy to get past the first round," Edwards said. "We have had some games we should have won this year, but I think we weren’t as fundamentally sound. But now the kids believe they can play. Hey, a 9-4 record is a very powerful thing. I’m just trying to teach them never to be satisfied to shoot to be better and better, never be stagnant. We always want to be better than the day before."
The Lady Bulldogs are ranked 30th in the state by laxpower.com. Hillsborough, 12-1, is ranked 14th, while Kent Place is ranked 22nd with a 10-2 record. So the Lady Bulldogs will definitely get two challenging games to prep for their state tournament appearance.
"I know I’m very happy with our kids," Edwards said. "I just want to keep striding forward."

