Hopewell reaches Mercer semifinal

GIRLS SOCCER

By: Tim Falls
   With the wind in its favor the Hopewell Valley Central High School girls varsity soccer team sailed into the semifinals of the Mercer County Tournament for the third time in four years.
   The Bulldogs were scheduled to face second-seeded Pennington in the semifinal at 5 p.m. yesterday (Wednesday) with the winner advancing to play the winner of the other semifinal game between top-seeded Steinert and West Windsor-Plainsboro South.
   Hopewell Valley advanced to the semifinals with tournament wins over Ewing and Hightstown for its 10th and 11th consecutive victories.
   The Bulldogs defeated the Rams, 5-0, in a quarterfinal game on Monday despite windy conditions.
   "In the first half the wind was in our face," said Hopewell coach John McGinley. "I was hoping to get out of the first half with the score, 0-0. Instead, we were able to get a goal. When we had the wind with us in the second half, it allowed us to have more opportunities."
   With the wind at their backs, the Bulldogs scored four goals in the second half.
   "There was not much we could do in the first half," said McGinley. "They were dumping the ball in, but with that wind we couldn’t keep possession."
   Nonetheless, Hopewell still managed a goal in the first half.
   Sam Germano led the scoring with two goals , while Arielle Wolfe and Gina Colati scored and added assists, Rosie Rarich provided a goal and Rachel Muentener had an assist.
   Goalie Kim Fearnbach made eight saves to record her 11th shutout of the season.
   Most of the action, at least in the second half, was focused on Hightstown’s goal as the Bulldogs led in shots, 18-8.
   Hopewell also shut out Ewing , 4-0, in the opening round of the Mercer County Tournament with another two-goal performance by Germano.
   Lauren Sheidler and Leah Kulp each scored once, while Meredith Briggs and Rosie Rarich had assists.
   Fearnbach had five saves as the Bulldogs led in shots, 15-5.
   Still, McGinley thought Ewing mounted more of an attack than he had seen in their first match-up.
   "We played Ewing earlier in the season, but they came at us with a lot more," said McGinley. "For the teams that may have struggled this season, the county tournament is like the states. They get up to knock out the higher seeds."
   Fearnbach also recorded a shutout in Hopewell ‘s 3-0 victory over Lawrence in a regular season game last Thursday.
   Germano, Briggs and Sarah Gustafson scored as the Bulldogs led in shots, 30-6. Hopewell wants to keep that winning streak going as they approach the NJSIAA tournament, but Pennington has been a tough team to beat. Except for a loss to an impressive Owen J. Roberts team (18-2), the Red Raiders have been almost untouchable this season with a record of 11-1-1 . "You want to win games like these," said McGinley. "You don’t want to just come out and play well."
   With winning in mind, the Hopewell shooters took time from their practice Tuesday like they have for the past few weeks to work on their penalty kicks. In the tournament games there can be no ties, so the Bulldogs want to be ready for a shootout if it comes down to that.