Big wins have followed big loss for Hun

Team effort lifts Raider boys to MCT win

By: Bob Nuse
   Hun School boys’ soccer coach Chris Kingston had planned to do a lot of things through Matt Sanford this year.
   And why not? The Raider senior is one of the top players in the area and someone who can make an impact on both ends of the field. But when Sanford went down for the season with a broken foot suffered in the Raiders opener against West Windsor-Plainsboro South, it changed the whole approach.
   "Our whole game plan from the beginning of the year was built from the back with Matt anchoring the defense and looking for him to come out of the pack unmarked and make a dangerous run," said Kingston, the Raiders’ head coach. "No one person can fill that role. He can do things that no one else on our team can do. We made some changes and guys have stepped up.
   "In a way, it helped us not knowing at the beginning how long he was going to be out. We approached it at first as let’s hold down the fort until he gets back. We won a couple games and built some confidence and started to play well. Then when we found out Matt would not be coming back, we had already built some confidence."
   That confidence has helped the Raiders to 10-1-1 record entering Monday’s game against Lawrence in the Mercer County Tournament. Hun opened MCT play on Friday with a 4-0 win over Hamilton.
   In other MCT action involving Packet-area teams, Princeton advanced to Monday’s scheduled quarterfinals with a 3-1 win over Pennington. Ross MacDonald scored his team-high 15th goal to open the scoring. Diego Reinero and Javier Ramirez added goals in the second half for the Little Tigers, who were scheduled to face Hightstown on Monday.
   WW-P North and WW-P South were each knocked into the consolation round with shootout losses on Saturday. The Knights dropped a tough game to Hopewell Valley, which prevailed 4-3 in penalty kicks after 100 scoreless minutes. North had lost to Steinert, 1-0, Thursday in a game it needed to win to qualify for the state tournament. Matt Jacques finished the game against Hopewell with 16 saves.
   WW-P South also played 100 scoreless minutes before falling to Lawrence, 10-9, on penalty kicks. Both teams made their first five kicks to head to an extra session of kicks, with Lawrence finally prevailing on the 10th kick.
   WW-P North and WW-P South will both play in the consolation round this week.
   As for Hun, the Raiders hope to use the momentum of their win over Hamilton to reach a second MCT final in three years.
   "Some of the seniors on the team this year, we remember what it was like to get to the county final two years ago," Hun senior Mike Williams said. "We lost a tough game in overtime to Steinert and we’d really like to get back to the final again."
   Williams is one of the players who has helped offset the loss of Sanford, although he knows no one player was going to be able to do that.
   "Coach Kingston always talks to us about how when you face adversity, you need to deal with it and move on. Last year we had an injury to (goalkeeper) Keith Morse and we dealt with that and still had a pretty good year. We’re still hoping to get Matt back for the tournaments, but we’ve had different guys step up while he has been out.
   "We’ve had some real close games this year with some good teams, like Lawrenceville and Blair. And we’ve pulled out some overtime wins. It’s really been a team effort with a lot of different guys getting the job done."
   Some of that has come from a strong senior group, which hasn’t let Sanford’s injury ruin the season.
   "We’ve gotten great leadership from the seniors like Ryan Breen, Andrew Mino and Mike Williams," Kingston said. "Everyone has really picked it up. They practice hard and work hard. It’s somewhat similar to the year we lost Kevin Morse, but with a better result. It’s not anything I did. I think the guys just decided they would not let that happen again. We had a key injury, but we had to deal with it and not let it ruin our season."
   Hun opened the season with a 3-3 tie against WW-P South, a game in which Sanford scored twice. Since then, the only loss came to national power St. Benedict’s.
   "We have a nice mix of players," Williams said. "We have five or six different guys who have been scoring goals. Ryan Kreger, who is a sophomore, is doing a great job in the middle for us. And Dave (Putman) has been great in goal. Jelani Rooks and Matt Florio have probably been our most dangerous players, but we have a lot of other guys that have to be reckoned with."
   Rooks leads the Raiders with six goals, while Florio and Mino have five goals apiece. Williams and Steve Giannanco have scored four goals apiece. In all, 14 different players have scored this season for the Raiders.
   "I love having a team like that," said Kingston. "It makes you wonder how teams scout us. Each game it’s someone different that is scoring. It’s a nice situation to be in."