Lady Raiders score, but not enough

New offense works in 3-2 loss to B-R

By: Rudy Brandl
   Hillsborough High’s new offensive alignment produced more shots and a couple of goals as intended, but it still wasn’t enough to propel the Lady Raiders to a victory in last Friday’s soccer opener against rival Bridgewater-Raritan.
   The HHS girls carried the action for most of the second half and didn’t quit until the final whistle. Unfortunately, they never took the lead and wound up on the short end of a 3-2 result.
   "Our intensity was much better than it usually is," HHS head coach LeeAnn Wyble said afterward. "Our offensive threat was much better than it usually is. We might become more known for our offense than our defense. Scoring two goals against a team like Bridgewater isn’t that bad. But they have a great offense."
   B-R’s vaunted attack features talented scorers Lena Starpoli, Jazz Farrell and Jackie Greco. While the Lady Raiders kept Starpoli off the board, they couldn’t stop Farrell from scoring twice and Greco from netting a late insurance goal.
   Hillsborough had to play catch-up after B-R scored in the first four minutes of the game. The new offensive-minded system didn’t start to click until the late stages of the first half, but the home team still trailed by a goal at the intermission.
   The Lady Raiders came out blazing in the second half, coming very close to scoring three times in the first nine minutes of play after the break. HHS finally broke through and tied the score when Mary Bednar connected with 24:42 to play in the second half.
   Bednar collected the ball with her back to the goal and wheeled past a defender to create an opening. Once she was alone with the keeper, Bednar fired a shot into the net for the team’s first goal of the 2006 season.
   "It was the same situation as the first half, but I took a bad shot," said Bednar, who fired one right at the keeper after making a similar move in the final minutes of the first half. "I knew that turn would work. I just had to take a better shot."
   Bednar’s shot increased Hillsborough’s momentum and it began to look like the home team would rally to victory. Then came the turning point of the game with just under 20 minutes to play. Starpoli went down with a cramp and the officials stopped the game for about five minutes.
   "That broke our momentum because it was right after we scored," Wyble said. "They really stepped it up after that."
   "They got the momentum and we let down," Bednar added. "Lena is one of their best players and they wanted revenge, even though it was just a cramp."
   Farrell was left wide-open in the middle and she took a cross from the left side and drove a shot past HHS keeper Taryn O’Connor for a 2-1 lead with 15:48 to play. The Lady Raiders pressed forward in quest of the equalizer but B-R took advantage by scoring an insurance goal on a counterattack with 5:31 to play.
   Hillsborough didn’t quit in the waning moments. Striker Lindsay Dragelin took a pass from Megan Cull and curled a nice left-footed shot into the corner with 3:49 remaining.
   "We always give them a good game," said Bednar, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime in last year’s Somerset County semifinal victory over Bridgewater. "We’re still trying to work on our system. It took us a while to get it together, but we dominated the second half. We were really pumped and prepared."
   The HHS girls weren’t making excuses after the season-opening loss, but they weren’t exactly at full strength. They started the game without center defender Noelle Neall, who is recovering from an ACL injury. Attacking midfielder and striker Katie Marino, a four-year varsity player, has been hampered by illness.
   During the game, more players went down. Bednar and stalwart defender Nikki Smartt each missed many minutes after sustaining ankle injuries.
   "It was a little peek into our future," Wyble said. "Although we have a lot of good seniors, a lot of teams in the league have good seniors. We want to be able to replace them so we can set a legacy. A lot of younger girls played today."
   The Lady Raiders may not have won Friday’s game but they played with courage and fire. They also showed good stamina on a hot afternoon.
   "We were able to run with them," Wyble said. "They were getting tired, but we were still running at the end."
   Hillsborough was scheduled to play three games in its first full week of action this season — at home vs. Phillipsburg Tuesday, at Immaculata Thursday and home vs. Pennington Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.