Stockton tally leads Raiders past PDS
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
After tying their meetings in each of the last two seasons, the Hun School and Princeton Day School girls’ soccer team expected a close matchup as the cross-town rivalry was renewed Tuesday.
It was as both teams had chances throughout, but no one scored until Blake Stockton escaped with the only goal of the game 1:44 into the first 10-minute overtime period for a 1-0 Raiders win.
”It feels good,” said Stockton, Hun’s junior forward. “We finally got it. Last year was hard, but this year everyone came back and got better. It’s going to be a good year.”
Stockton has a new running partner up top in post-graduate Arielle Collins and a fresh outlook for a Hun team that went 6-9-1 last year. Stockton spent more than half of last year in the Raider midfield, but slid forward to team with the former Steinert standout for Hun’s opener at PDS after its originally scheduled opener was rained out.
”Last year, I wasn’t used to playing up top,” Stockton said. “I practiced it this summer. When Arielle came, it was like the icing on the cake. She knew how to play. I knew how to play. Last year, it was like we were switching on and off so I never got the chance to work with one person the whole year. I played forward, midfield, everywhere.”
It’s only one game, but Stockton is enjoying playing with Collins, who helped lead Steinert to the Central Jersey Group IV championship last year.
”It’s fun. She’s a good player,” Stockton said. “She knows what to do with the ball. She knows how to play with her back to the ball. We work with each other. We have chemistry. We know what we’re doing. I know what she’s doing; she knows what I’m doing with the ball.”
Stockton could still see time in the midfield, but her improvements since last year could enable the Raiders to keep four midfielders and four defenders back and remain dangerous offensively.
”She’s worked really, really hard on her first touch,” said Hun head coach Ken Stevenson. “That combination of her first touch and her speed, when she’s in a dangerous position, she’s able to use her strength much more effectively without losing the ball.”
Early in the first overtime, she took a ball at the 18-yard line and danced between a pair of PDS defenders before dribbling to her right and hitting it low into the right side of the goal off the fingers of a diving Jess Frieder.
”I didn’t know whether to go by a couple people or if it would be better if I just took the shot,” Stockton said. “I thought it would be better if I just placed it in the right position. I have a tendency to stutter on the ball.
”I like to set up,” she added. “Every time I like to see the net and see where I’m going to put it.”
Stockton may have held the ball a bit too long at times in regulation as she looked for the perfect shot. PDS had its own chances on offense, but couldn’t convert even when given two penalty kicks. Both hit the crossbar above Hun goalie Lexi Golestani.
”I told our team, this one should sting a little bit,” said Panthers head coach Patrick Trombetta, whose team fell to 2-1. “This one should have ended in regulation. Defensively, we played really strong shutting down Arielle Collins. Courtland Lackey and Tara Glancey had unbelievable games back there.
”It shows defensively we can shut down some of the marquee players in the county. But offensively, when we have golden opportunities, we have to finish them.”
Stockton was happy to finally finish a chance to give Hun the win. It helps push the Raiders on the path to their goal.
”Our goal this year is just to win something, win anything,” she said. “We’re feeling confident. We’re hoping we can get a couple wins in. We have a good chemistry. Nobody has any beef with anybody. Everyone loves each other. There’s a positive attitude everywhere.
”This is leadership time,” she added of her role. “There are like six or seven juniors and five seniors. We’re trying to be positive and lead the team to victory.”
Tuesday was a fine start for Hun, which was playing its first official game of the season with its new look up top. Stevenson likes the potential of pairing Collins and Stockton.
”They’re talented and they’re physical,” he said. “They both work extremely hard, especially Arielle. Her work ethic is very impressive. We have to figure out what do we have to do when she gets doubled. We were sort of working on that today as we were playing. We made some adjustments, and it’s nice to get a win against these guys.
”Our schedule is tough this year,” he added, “so the more we can get tested early on, the better off we’re going to be at the end of the season.”

