S. HUNTERDON: Lady Eagles lose in tournament

By John E. Powers, Sports Writer
   The South Hunterdon Regional High School field hockey team didn’t have a chance in its NJSIAA North 2, Group I, first-round sectional tournament last week against Pingry.
   The Big Blue scored four first-half goals and went on to win 6-1.
   Kayla Ribsam scored for South Hunterdon, and keeper Leslie Salsbury made 21 saves.
   The Eagles finished the season with a 12-7-1 record.
   South Hunterdon, the No. 5 seed, had hoped to make a serious run at the fourth-seeded Big Blue. But Kate Salvaggio scored less than five minutes into the game off one of Pingry’s 14 penalty corners. Katie Parsels followed with a goal at the 11:36 mark to give the Big Blue a 2-0 lead.
   Chloe Sorvino boosted the lead to 3-0 on the first of her two goals and scored once again less than four minutes, giving Pingry a 4-0 halftime lead. Pingry outshot the Eagles 29-7.
   ”I’m not in the circle that much, but we had everybody going to the circle because they had so many shots,” said South senior co-captain Stef Davis. “Their goals were almost off accidents. I didn’t see very skilled shots, but Leslie did all she could do to make the saves.”
   Ribsam broke through in the opening minutes of the second half, beating Pingry keeper Cameron Lan.
   ”Everybody was pumped after we scored, but after that we couldn’t get the ball past the 50; we just didn’t execute like we had,” Davis said.
   Two more goals sealed the win for Pingry, which raised its record to 15-4-1.
   ”They were a very good team,” Davis said. “I think the team would have been better if we hadn’t been on field turf. They were just a very skilled team, but we did play our best against them. They were very skilled and very fast, and they had these field turf tricks. They had these quick passes.”
   Pingry lost to Oak Knoll 3-0 in the next round.