Girls lax overcomes slow start
By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
McKayl Novak noticed a change in the Hillsborough High School girls lacrosse team Tuesday, one that the Raiders senior is hoping is here to stay.
”Everybody was more intense than usual,” said Novak.
It was Senior Day when HHS honored the four seniors that have kept expectations and skill sets high. Novak and Kristian Wasdick play on the defensive side, Alyssa Polesky is a goalie and Kristina Dunphey plays on the offensive side.
”The four seniors, we’re all big leaders on the team,” said Novak who is a captain. “We got everyone focused and got everyone together. They wanted to win it for us.”
Hillsborough got off to a faster start than usual on its way to a 13-7 win over Pingry, the one team in its conference that it had yet to play. Erika Cavallo, Alex DeGaris, Megan Muller and Dunphey all had three goals apiece. Dunphey, who tallied her 200th career goal last week against Bridgewater-Raritan, also added two assists. She sits second in HHS history with 214 career goals after passing Lindsey Watts’ mark of 208. Ali DeLuca is tops with 320 career goals.
Cavallo had registered her 100th career goal against Bridgewater. Muller and Wasdick also recorded assists against Pingry, and goalie Sarah Fenwick made seven saves as the Raiders improved to 8-5 going into today’s game against Hunterdon Central.
”I think everyone’s confidence is really up and everyone is focused,” Novak said. “You can tell that every single person wants it when we step on the field. We really want to beat Central. We know we could have the first time. We’re going to go in focused and go right from the beginning and put them away. That’s what we did to Pingry today. I think now we’re more used to their style of play.”
The Hillsborough girls have been increasingly satisfied with the way they have been playing. After an 0-3 start, the Raiders have won eight of 10 games, including their last five straight.
”It was definitely a very different start than what we’re used to,” Novak said. “I’ve been on varsity since freshman year and we’ve had really successful years. It was a new group of girls and a lot of girls had to adjust to new positions and it took a while to get into the unity mindset and team mindset.
”Now we’re running plays to everyone. Everyone is getting touches and everyone is stepping up and playing better.”
Novak, who will continue her playing career at West Chester University next year, has tried to do her part to shore up the Raiders defensive end. After earning some starts as a defensive wing as a freshman, she spent sophomore year transitioning to low defense and has been a starter there for the last two years. She caused a key turnover in the final minute that enabled HHS to force overtime against Bridgewater.
”She’s definitely these last couple weeks gotten a great focus and intensity that we’ve needed her to have,” said Raiders head coach Beth Murrin. “She’s digging in and playing solid defense. She’s also the low defender we look to clear the ball out of the defensive end with and help with ball control and getting it to the offensive end.”
The Raiders defense has played better over the five-game winning streak. It has allowed 10 goals per game. In their losses, HHS has surrendered 14 goals per game. The Raiders have only been held under 12 goals themselves once this season thanks to some increased balance.
”In the last two weeks, our defense has come a long way and we’re putting pressure on other teams and that’s helped,” Murrin said. “We’re making opposing offenses uncomfortable. Our goalies have been able to make saves because they’re not being asked to make heroic saves. The last thing is we’re a little more balanced in the number of touches and the way we’re getting our offensive looks. We’re getting more people involved.”
Their only losses in the last 10 games are a one-goal overtime loss to Hunterdon Central that they can avenge today and a one-goal loss to Ridge, which beat the Raiders by three goals to open the year.
”Ever since Ridge, when we lost by one, that’s boosted everyone’s confidence,” Novak said. “We think we can beat them. It definitely takes everyone not just a couple people.”
The Raiders have been focusing on getting off to better starts and to sustaining their focus and intensity through practices and games. They were impressive against Pingry, whom they held to just four first-half goals and they did not let up the way they had against Montgomery in their previous game.
”We focused on their strong players which we shut out very early and we got in their heads,” Novak said of the Pingry win. “What we needed to do on defense, we wanted to double the strong players with the ball and we would chase them and get in their heads. It started with the draw, and we got most of the draws. We got most of the possession and once we get the draws, there’s no stopping us.”
Said Murrin: “I think we’re starting to get some things and put some pieces together. It seemed like we’d fix one thing and another thing would be missing. We’ve been playing well in big stretches. We’re still a little inconsistent, but we’ve been playing better as a team in the last two or three weeks. I’m hopeful that continues.”
It has to if the Raiders are going to earn the chance to play for the county title. They could face a rematch with Ridge, and beyond that there is the state tournament. The Raiders can’t stop working at what has gotten them back on track.
”We’re still at the point where every little improvement is important and we need to keep on that trend,” Murrin said. “We need to come into practice and target the priority things we’re working on, and keep doing the things we’ve fixed.”
The Raiders have come quite a ways from their frustrating start when they had trouble finishing close games.
”It was tough,” Murrin said, “but it allowed us to fuel the fire. It definitely stung a little bit. It’s not a start that we’re used to. But we let it drive us too.”
The Raiders will have their chances to put their frustrations even further behind if they can avenge their Hunterdon Central loss today, then make county and state tournament title runs.
”Since our confidence is up, we really want to push it out from here,” Novak said. “We think we’ll get the second seed in the county and we really want to beat Ridge.”