HHS boys also advance
By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Even when the losses were mounting, Alexa Pezza never doubted that she was a part of a good Hillsborough High School girls soccer team.
She just needed a few wins to prove it.
”It’s the people that we play,” said the Raiders senior defender. “We play all the good teams so our record might not be that good, but we can play with anyone out there.”
Hillsborough was 6-11-1 and seeded 12th for the Central Jersey Group IV state tournament, but they are feeling good after handing fifth-seeded Steinert a 2-1 loss the first round and topping fourth-seeded Brick Memorial, 1-0, in the quarterfinals Saturday.
”The girls want validation,” said Raiders head coach LeeAnn Best. “They still want wins. They want the validation to say they are a good team. They are fighting. Our mantra has been ‘Just win,’ don’t let them score and we just have to win. They’re sticking together and trying to win for each other. It’s the first time since early in the season. The kids have been really great.”
Arielle Curtis scored the only goal that the Raiders would need against Brick Memorial. Katerina Albanese made five saves as the defense earned a shutout. Curtis is in her second year starting, and she scored both game-winners in states. She connected on a penalty kick against Steinert and a gorgeous goal against Brick Memorial.
”I made her take the penalty kick because she has so much composure,” Best said. “Then (Saturday) before the game, I changed my formation a bit and changed her more to an offensive role. She was like a defensive center mid, now she’s more of an attacking center mid. She’s been really great lately.”
The HHS boys soccer team also stayed alive in their CJ IV state tournament. The second-seeded Raiders didn’t want to fall upset victim to No. 10 South Brunswick, which held them scoreless through regulation and overtime before Hillsborough won, 4-2, on penalty kicks. Jimmy Mazich made two saves for the Raiders (14-3-4) in the shootout to propel them to the semifinals, where they must await an opponent yet to be determined as of Tuesday.
The Hillsborough girls haven’t won either state game by much, but they have controlled play for large periods of both games.
”I think in the beginning of both of those state games, they were not expecting us to be as good or come out as hard,” Pezza said. “In the beginning of both of those games, we dominated. It took them a while to realize that we were actual competition. We got ranked No. 12 because of our conference record, but that’s just because we play the hard teams.
”I think our Coach told us five teams in our conference are state ranked. We know every team is going to come at us hard. It’s a lot to take on every game, but we know those game are important. We play all those teams twice, and play them in our county too. We use those games to help work on our skills.”
It took a long time, but the Raiders are seeing the payoff at a time that they will remember the most. Hillsborough has plenty of returning players and plenty of seniors like Pezza, who have continued to battle together each game, win or lose.
”I think we get energy from each other,” said Pezza, who also plays basketball and softball at HHS. “The seven seniors, we’ve been playing together forever. We’re all good friends. We feed off each other. There are no problems.”
Being such good friend is part of what held the team together so well through some tough contests. The Raiders never gave up on each other and got a burst of confidence when they kept their season alive in the state tournament. To do so, they had to first knock off a Steinert team that two years ago ended their state tournament.
”I think we needed the win over Steinert,” Best said. “Kids only believe their coach for so long when you tell them, you guys can win. Now that they went in there, had the fifth seed, finished pretty strong in conference and know they can play with them and can take the hits, and saw their fitness was pretty good, they know there’s still a chance to come out on top and end the season on a high note. The little break they had with the storm gave them a chance to refresh and a chance to get their second wind.”
The Raider girls will need another wind as they travel to top-seeded Montgomery High for the sectional semifinals today. HHS lost twice to Montgomery, a 4-0 winner of No. 8 Freehold Township, in the regular season.
”It’s hard to beat a team three times,” Pezza said. “When we played them the second time, we were without three starters. Hopefully now that we have everyone back, it’ll be a better game.”
The Raiders have Julianne Minutillo back on the field after offseason surgery cost her much of the year. They are playing with some newfound confidence, and a new resolve, as well as a new formation that has Pezza in the middle of a flat three-back line on defense. It helped to earn them a win over Brick Memorial and trip to the semifinals.
”It’s exciting not just for the seniors, but also Coach Best,” Pezza said. “We haven’t been this far in a while.”
There were certainly times this year that the Raiders didn’t look like they would be getting too far in the state tournament, but then their regular season tests paid dividends.
”Probably having played two months of the toughest conference in the state helps,” Best said. “We’ve been taking our hits and getting beaten up. It is great preparation to play some of the best teams in the state from other conferences.”
Said Pezza: “We knew that we were the underdog but we also knew we were playing teams outside out of our conference. We know our conference was one of the best in the state. We knew we could play with them. Even though we were the underdogs, we knew we could take them.”