Lawrence claims a significant win

GIRLS SOCCER

By: Tim Falls
   Winning loose balls helped the Lawrence High School girls varsity soccer team get its first win of the season.
   The Cardinals edged Allentown, 2-1, last Thursday night at Mercer County Community College.
   Jennifer Korkut scored the game-winner to stop end a streak of six straight losses.
   "Jennifer took a nice pass and went in on a breakaway," said Lawrence coach David Boggs. "She was composed. The goalie came out to challenge and Jennifer passed it low by her into the goal."
   Erica Buher scored her first varsity goal in the first half to tie the score.
   "She got behind a defender and had a real nice shot off the far post into the net," said Boggs. "It was a very aggressive play, she was hustling."
   The Cardinals took advantage of playing on the larger turf field under the lights at Mercer and went aggressively after their first win of the season.
   "They played very consistent," said Boggs. "They were very aggressive, even on defense."
   Lawrence led in shots 14-5, by winning loose balls."Winning those loose balls meant more possession and gave us more opportunities," said Boggs. "We put together two solid halves. The defense worked for every loose ball. Aisling O’Sullivan Roche was one of the players who was flying into tackles and winning balls."
   Boggs gave credit to defenders like Cara Brobst and Colleen Kelly for their aggressive play which moved Lawrence back on offense.
   The Cardinals continued to play well the next day, but couldn’t pull off another win.
   Hamilton edged Lawrence, 3-2, in overtime.
   After a scoreless first half, Kelly scored to tie the game in the second and the Aubrey Smith scored off an assist from Lauren Raymond to force overtime.
   "The loss in overtime was a tough pill to swallow," said Boggs, "but then again, we put together two great games back to back."
   Nikki Eversberg kept Lawrence in the game in goal with 15 saves.
   "Nikki had a tremendous game for us," said Boggs. "We couldn’t have made it to overtime without the saves she made."
   Boggs described several big plays Eversberg made, including one where the freshman goalie blocked a Hamilton attacker’s shot from four feet away. "She got a hand on it," said Boggs, who described another save where Eversberg managed to tip a shot just over the crossbar.
   Eversberg had her work cut out for her and made nine saves as she shared the net with senior Dianna Pfister in a 6-0 loss to West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Tuesday.
   Pfister had 14 saves while the Pirates led in shots, 31-7.