By: Kyle Moylan Sports Editor
The Allentown High School boys’ soccer team picked the best time of the season to get hot.
With three wins this past week, Allentown improved to 6-5-1 and put itself in position to clinch a spot in the state playoffs.
Allentown was scheduled to face Hopewell Valley this past Tuesday. It will play at West Windsor South today (Thursday) at 4 p.m. The team will then be off until Tuesday when it plays at Trenton in a 4 p.m. start. Allentown’s last game before the cutoff date to be .500 or better to qualify for the state tournament will be against Robbinsville on Thursday, October 23 at 7 p.m. at home.
There are a lot of combinations that will earn Allentown a playoff spot. Two wins will do it. Three ties will get it done. A win and a tie will also do the trick. Of course, the better the record, the better the seed and chance of winning when the playoffs do start. So all of the games are very important.
Allentown got itself off to great start last week with a 4-3 overtime win over Nottingham on October 7. Romy Behary, Josh Howell and Anthony Tallarido scored in regulation. Brendan Skeehan scored the game-winning goal in overtime.
“We had a direct kick from about 50 yards out,” Allentown Coach Bob Dubina noted of the game-winning play. “We put the ball in the box and it got knocked around. He (Skeehan) snuck behind the defense and put it in the goal.”
In other action, Allentown was defeated by Notre Dame. Fortunately, it was able to rebound from that loss with wins against Winslow and Burlington Township.
Against Winslow on Saturday, Dean Search scored two goals and Howell added a penalty kick. Behary and Kevin Amaquandohasah had assists. Connor Darrell needed to make only four saves to record the win in goal.
“That was a big win for us,” Dubina said. “It’s the third time we’ve been able to get to .500. Now we have to find a way to get over it.”
That came this past Monday. Matt Waricka scored the lone goal of the match in the second half. Darrell made four saves to record the shutout in goal.
“The year has been going well,” Dubina said. “We have a good group of guys, a lot of seniors.”
But this is a new job for Dubina, who has coached girls’ basketball and softball at the school. When it comes to coaching, Dubina is turning into Allentown’s go-to guy.
Tigana Dalce, the previous head coach, took an assistant coaching job at Rider University.
“I’ve done soccer at other schools, but I wasn’t sure what to think of this team,” Dubina noted. “Last year was a struggle, but the team has been resilient.”
AHS GIRLS
Hayley Odell scored both goals (assisted by Dawn Taylor and Samantha Sloane) as the Allentown High girls’ soccer team defeated Winslow, 2-1.
Megan Gallagher, assisted by Taylor, scored for Allentown in a 1-1 tie with Nottingham. Marrisa Waldie and Haley Wilhelm combined for 18 saves in goal.

