Maziarz left winning mark at Hun
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
The last six months of soccer have made for some unforgettable wins for Ashley Maziarz.
In July, the central defender helped her FC Bucks club team win the Elite Clubs National League championship in Richmond, Va., with a win over a team from Ohio. Maziarz couldn’t have known then that it would just be the first championship she would get to share in this year.
Maziarz returned for her senior year at The Hun School confident that the Raider girls soccer team would be good. She was further encouraged when the team started preseason.
”When we all got together, I knew there was a lot of talent coming in,” Maziarz said. “With the new players, the freshmen — Kendell Dandridge, Kara (Borden), Nicole (Apuzzi) from Match Fit — I knew we were going to have a stronger team. I loved the turnout we had in the preseason and I knew their heart was in it as much as mine was.”
The freshman hadn’t been a part of last year’s team that went 0-7 to start due in large part to injuries to players like Maziarz. But last year ended in promising fashion with Hun finishing strong by making the state title game before falling to Pennington.
”I think we had a momentum boost after that,” Maziarz said. “It gave us more confidence and we saw what we were capable of doing. We saw how our record was going. Although there were injuries that hurt us, it helped our confidence.”
With just one senior starter graduated, the goals were high coming into the season, and the addition of a strong group of freshmen only further encouraged the Raiders. Maziarz and fellow second-year captain Jess Sacco — who also plays for FC Bucks and will play with Maziarz at Lehigh University next year — set the bar high for the team.
”Jess and I tried keeping the same chemistry we had last year on the team and building off it,” Maziarz said. “With being captains last year, it helped our goals. We knew what the team wanted. We tried to build off that and incorporate the freshmen and make them feel as much a part of the team as we were. In order to win games, we needed to work with each other and play with each other. That’s what Jess and I worked on the most. Whether we were winning or losing, we made sure we were keeping the bond with each other.”
Hun got an early boost of confidence with a 2-0 win over Pennington in the middle of the year. It snapped a 22-game winless streak against Pennington that had spanned 16 years. That win was critical in gaining more confidence and setting up the Raiders to be the top seed for the Prep A state tournament.
Hun advanced to the state final again, but this time it played in front of a huge crowd at home against Pennington for the championship. It was scoreless when Maziarz fired in a direct kick with 1:31 to play in the first half. She then anchored a defense that shut out Pennington the rest of the way for a 2-0 win. It snapped Pennington’s 11-year state title streak, and marked Hun’s first state championship since 1990. It gave Maziarz a national and state championship to cap a 12-3-2 season.
”I’m honestly going to say the state championship was bigger,” said Maziarz, who finished the season with seven goals and an assist. “I was happier about that. I loved ending our season that way. Going out with a state championship is the perfect way to end.”
Ashley Maziarz is the Princeton Packet Girls Soccer Player of the Year.
”Certainly on the field she had a real commanding presence in the back,” said Hun head coach Joanna Hallac. “She’s vocal, but her play really spoke loudest. She was solid back there. She was consistent winning balls out of the air, going in on tackles, keeping teams from getting quality shots they’re used to.
”And she scored for us. Against Pennington, she scored essentially the game-winning goal. Making herself an offensive threat, whether on corner kicks or pushing up the field, was important too.”
Maziarz had come into the season with the expectation that her production would increase offensively while she would continue to bolster a defense that she had started for since coming to Hun.
”I came in my freshman year and started on defense,” said the Chesterfield resident. “I was a little intimidated being on the field with a bunch of seniors. I like how the seasons progressed. This season has been the best season I’ve had at Hun. The chemistry we had, this is the closest I’ve been with any team. I enjoyed this year the most.”
Maziarz helped make it a better season with her contributions at both ends of the field. She contributed offensively and defensively, something that she had talked about in her pre-season one-on-one talk with Hallac. She wanted to be more dangerous on offense.
”One of my goals was to score more goals,” Maziarz said. “Last year, most of mine came from corner kicks from Olivia Braender-Carr. I knew I’d have to get my goals a different way. My dad tells me to work on my foot skills all the time, and this year I had a wider range of goals.”
Maziarz scored quite a few for a defensive player, and her goals tended to be important ones for the Raiders.
”She has a knack for finding the back of the net at the right time,” Hallac said. “She had that knack last year. She had the header off the corner to get us in the final. She had seven goals and one assist, which as center back is pretty good. She does have a knack for scoring in the pivotal moment. She scored with 1:31 left in the first half of the Prep A championship. It was an unbelievable goal.
”She has a nice shot and can finish, but I don’t know if she even knew she was capable of striking such a perfect ball. It’s something you can’t teach. She has a lot of qualities that make her a great leader and player. Finding the back of the net at the right time, you can’t teach that.”
None of her goals were more important or memorable than her direct kick against Pennington in the state final. She slipped it over Pennington’s wall of defenders and below the crossbar.
”I definitely think it was bigger than any one we had, especially with the crowd we had there,” Maziarz said. “It got me excited, and because it gave us more momentum, I really enjoyed doing that.”
Maziarz was a veteran presence for Hun in all areas of the field. She brought leadership and experience in addition to her playing skills, and this year was her finest.
”A lot of the improvement came as a result of experience and a result of things she did in the offseason,” Hallac said. “Her club team won a championship, a national championship. That gave her more experience playing against good teams. Her and Jess Sacco along with Olivia were junior captains last year, but Olivia was the real vocal leader. Her and Jess got a chance this year to make more of an impact. Growing up and being more experienced and being more of the vocal presence, Ashley embraced it.”
The Raiders were part of a process as well. They were able to accomplish things that had eluded them for years thanks to the dedication and skills of their team.
”I think training sessions were a lot harder than they have been in the past,” Maziarz said. “The work rate was a lot higher. The heart and dedication to the team is what stepped it up. We had a goals list. No. 1 was to beat Pennington. No. 2 was to make it to the state finals. That’s what we were working towards all year.”
And when Hun got to the final again, it made the most of it. After falling, 1-0, last year, the Raiders were finally able to get over the hump this season.
”The talent we had this year kind of surpassed the other years and the teamwork we had,” Maziarz said. “All the girls focusing, we all knew how big a game it was going to be. The training sessions up to that game, they were hard and strong. The freshmen wanted it, the sophomores wanted it and everyone wanted it. That’s what helped. Everyone’s heart was in it.”
Next year, it will be Maziarz who goes back to being a freshman. She and Sacco will take their skills from Hun to Lehigh.
”I think obviously you go from being one of the standouts to being on a team of standouts,” Hallac said. “Being surrounded by the talent she will at Lehigh, it’ll make her game even better. I’m excited to see how she keeps growing as a player and how she’ll be. She’s already a really good player. She loves challenges and this will be a good one for her.”
Said Maziarz: “Now it’s just about working out and getting the strength of the girls in college. I know I’ll be going up against seniors. The speed of play and physicality, I’ll have to get in better shape than I am. It’s going to take consistency and working hard so I’m ready for the preseason.”
In Maziarz, Lehigh is getting a player who has proven her value all over the field for Hun, and proven over the last six months that she has the experience to help teams win championships.
”She’s a great kid, on and off the field,” Hallac said. “It’s going to be a big hole to fill next year in a lot of ways.”