Losses put pressure on Lawrence

SOCCER

By Tim Falls, Sports Editor
   The pressure will be on the Lawrence girls soccer team in the Cardinals’ next few games.
   Losses to Hamilton and Steinert dropped Lawrence’s record to 4-6 and with the deadline to qualify for the NJSIAA postseason on Oct. 24 the Cardinals will need wins to get their record to .500 in time.
   ”We’re really looking to make states and win our division,” said Lawrence junior Lauren Immordino. “It’s going to be tough in the next couple of games, but we need to do what we’ve been doing, working hard and coming out with fire.”
   Lawrence will play Ewing tonight at 7 p.m. and then has a game against West Windsor-Plainsboro North on Saturday. The Cardinals then host West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Tuesday and take on Hightstown next Thursday. Lawrence would need to win three of the next four games to be 7-7 by Oct. 24.
   Whether or not Lawrence qualifies for the playoffs, the Cardinals have shown marked improvement so far this season and have proven themselves on the field.
   ”I think we have the skills,” said Immordino. “We’re doing well, stepping up from last year. We all knew we had to come out with a lot more fire.”
   Lawrence lost to Hamilton, 2-1, in overtime on Friday. Lawrence had gained a lead but the Hornets managed to tie the game late in the second half and get the game-winner in overtime.
   Steinert shut out Lawrence, 2-0, on Tuesday, but the Cardinals remained competitive, especially in the second half.
   ”I thought we all came out to play and in the second half we did really well,” said Immordino. “We really took it to them. I don’t think they were better than us, I think we were pretty much equal.”
   Steinert went ahead with goals in the first half, but Lawrence kept the Spartans from extending their lead in the second half.
   Nicole Krawczyk made seven saves for the Cardinals and Nikki Eversberg posted a shutout in the second half with six saves, while Steinert led in shots, 16-6.
Lawrence boys
remain unlucky
   The Lawrence boys soccer team fell to 2-7 with losses to Steinert and Hamilton.
   The Spartans defeated the Cardinals, 4-2, on Tuesday. Lawrence led twice, but each time Steinert tied the score and then got a go-ahead goal and maintained the lead.
   ”I think we played very well,” said Lawrence coach PJ Barrett. “I don’t know what the problem is, we are just a very unlucky team. We played well enough to win and we should have won.”
   Hamilton defeated Lawrence, 4-1. Pawel Romanski scored Lawrence’s lone goal as the two teams remained tied at half time.
   ”We played well for a half,” said Barrett, who added the Hornets’ second goal deflated the Cardinals a bit.
   Despite the losses, Barrett said he has seen some positives in the recent games, like Maciej Kowal scoring seven goals in four games, including two against the Spartans.
   Barrett said Kowal and Everson are doing great jobs as forwards and “Pawel had possibly the best game in his career against Steinert. He took a big step forward. It was something notably different.”
   The Cardinals are scheduled to host Ewing at Zimmer field tonight, Trenton Catholic Academy on Saturdy, New Brunswick on Monday and West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Tuesday.