HHS girls’ soccer plans to stand tall in the Valley

By: Sean Moylan
   Last week the Hightstown High girls’ varsity soccer team was just concerned with locking up a playoff berth, which it did.
   But things are going so well for the Rams that they’ve turned their focus to winning their first Valley conference in over a decade.
   "We’ve knocked off all these great teams, which is a tribute to the girls," said Hightstown head coach Don Hess, who has already done a fantastic job of coaching this season. "We had two really good games last week and we really needed them. Now we still have a shot at winning the conference."
   This past Tuesday, Brianna Byrne, just back from an injury, scored two goals in Hightstown’s 4-2 home win over Notre Dame.
   While Hightstown played well overall, Hess was a little concerned that his club surrendered two goals over an eight-minute span in the second half to squander a 2-0 lead. But the Rams did bounce back with goals by Byrne (assisted by Kayla Reddington) and Erika Juricic (assisted by Jen Pikus) to put the game way. Earlier, Juricic had set up Byrne’s first tally and Ify Onochie converted on a Tina DeAngelis pass for Hightstown’s second score. Hightstown had a dozen shots on goal while Notre Dame shot nine times. Tara Miluszewski made seven saves to earn the win.
   "They’re (Notre Dame) a good team and they’re always feisty," said Hess. "We have a lot of respect for them."
   On Monday Hightstown had an opportunity to blow out the Hun School but had to settle for a 2-1 win, thanks in large part to Miluszewski, who made an unbelievable save, pinning a ball across the crossbar.
   "We didn’t deliver the knockout punch. We had Hun 2-0 and let them come back and score a goal," said Hess. "The Hun game was played between the 18’s. The field conditions were horrendous. It was muddy and hard to maneuver."
   Juricic, Hightstown’s big scorer, was able to maneuver enough to score a goal (assisted by Angela Lenzo) and assist on Onochie’s tally. Hightstown’s stingy defense held Hun to just four shots on goal.
   "Our two marking backs, Cori Davis and Danielle Romola had great defensive games," said Hess, who also got stellar defense from Marissa Segal.
   On Saturday a powerful, undefeated Steinert team beat Hightstown 6-1 in Hamilton.
   "They’re (Steinert) a special team. They beat us in every aspect of the game. Their girl (Jessica Babice) had a hat trick in the first six minutes and we have a good defense," said Hess. Onochie scored for the Rams and Miluszewski recorded 13 saves to keep the contest from getting way out of hand.
   Last Thursday, Hightstown edged Hamilton, 1-0, on the road.
   "The Hamilton game was one rugged, physical game. We had at least 10 stoppages for injuries. They are like our major rivals and we really needed that one," said Hess.
   The only goal of the contest was scored in the second half by Reddington, with an assist by Juricic.
   "Reddington scored on a 30-yarder. She put the shot in the upper 90," Hess added. Miluszewski recorded four saves to pick up the shutout.
   Hightstown needs to keep on winning to capture the conference. Hightstown was scheduled to play Ewing last night (Thursday) at Mercer County Community College. Hightstown is scheduled at Old Bridge on Monday. On Tuesday it is scheduled to host Trenton and it is scheduled at Allentown next Thursday.
   PEDDIE

   "I’m much more concerned with where we end up than where we’ve been," said longtime Peddie girls’ varsity soccer head coach Ray Cabot, whose team shook off a 1-4 start to win its last three games.
   The Falcons were a little tight in their early games as they tried hard to get Cabot his 200th career win.
   "Once they got me 200 I think that actually took a lot of pressure off the kids. I think they were pressing too hard (the first few games)," noted Cabot.
   Over the last two weeks, Peddie has established itself as a dominating defensive team with all four of its wins coming by way of shutout.
   Peddie was particularly dominating, both offensively and defensively, in a 3-0 home win over Princeton Day School on Tuesday.
   "We had the better of play. We out shot them by a significant amount (30-5)," said Cabot.
   Christine Lee scored a pair of goals and Sarah Dillella also netted a goal for the winning side. Lee scored three minutes into the contest to give Peddie a 1-0 cushion at the half. Bridget Lang set aside five shots to pick up the shutout.
   Lang also had five saves in Peddie’s easy 4-0 home win over Hill last Friday.
   "Our kids jumped on them early and we played a much quicker paced game than they were expecting. We scored two goals in the first 10 minutes," said Cabot.
   One of the other reasons Peddie was able to generate so much offense against a solid Hill team was because it had moved Katrina Smedley from the midfield to one of the forward positions. Smedley responded to the move by playing a great game and scoring a pair of goals. Lee also played extremely well and compiled a goal and two assists in the contest. Kate Manuelli tallied the Falcons’ other goal while Caitlin Holtz picked up an assist in the Hill game.
   "We’re 4-4 and might have been 6-2 (with any luck)," noted Cabot, whose team will now play MAPL conference opponents for a while. At the same time, Peddie is also gearing up to make a playoff push. Peddie is scheduled to host Lawrenceville today (Friday) and it is scheduled to host East Brunswick next Thursday.