Allentown High School’s Devon Hoernlein, left, finished third at the Mercer County Cross-Country Championships Oct. 23 at Thompson Park in Jamesburg. FRANK WOJCIECHOWSKI It’s been a long wait, but Allentown High School’s field hockey team claimed its first Mercer County Tournament championship since 2009 when it beat Robbinsville High School, 1-0, in overtime in a battle of the final unbeaten teams in the Colonial Valley Conference Oct. 24 at Mercer County College.
“I can’t be any more proud of them, doing it in overtime where they’ve already had an entire game [played] and their legs are gone, and they just put it all out there,” Allentown coach Dana Thompson said after the game.
The coach said the Redbirds won on heart and desire — a goal by Sierra Wojcik. It came after a penalty corner by Allentown that Robbinsville was slow in clearing out.
Katie White made five saves in goal for the Redbirds.
Allentown, which went to 14-0-2, played to a 1-1 tie with Robbinsville in a pivotal game for the Colonial Valley Conference Freedom Division title earlier in the season. Allentown lost in the semifinals last year to Lawrenceville School, which won the last four titles after Robbinsville won the 2010 title.
“From the very beginning, this was what our goal was,” Thompson said after the victory. “Our second goal now is going as far as we can in that state tournament.”
That begins Nov. 2 when Allentown, with a first-round bye, plays the winner of Seneca High School (10-7) vs. Brick Township High School (1-12-4).
Football
Allentown (3-4) pins its hopes for this season on its game against Hopewell Valley Central High School (6-1) at 7 p.m. Oct. 30 at home. The Redbirds can stay in the hunt for a berth in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III playoffs, where it reached the finals last December, and keep alive their hopes for a winning season with a victory. The Redbirds have never had a losing season in coach Jay Graber’s six seasons but had one .500 record two seasons ago. It’s a big challenge, particularly for Allentown’s struggling defense, as Hopewell Valley has not lost since dropping its opener, 10-7, to Burlington Township High School.
“We’re still alive for the playoffs,” Graber said. “Hopewell Valley runs the ball really well, and they play tough on defense and haven’t given up a lot of points. The most important thing for the rest of the season is that we came together as a team. We have to put aside the outside forces and distractions and attitudes many of our players have had and not play as individuals. We’ve not been able to get on a roll for a number of different reasons.”
Allentown fell into a must-win situation when it lost, 42-14, to Rancocas Valley Regional High School (4-2) Oct. 24. Allentown twice had leads of 7-0 and 14-6 before Rancocas Valley forged ahead to a 21-14 lead at halftime following a hard-fought first half. Jordan Winston, who passed for 140 yards, scored the first touchdown on a 3-yard run, and Joe Mannino, who rushed for 76 yards on 17 carries, ran 6 yards for the second score.
“[Rancocas Valley is] good, big, physical and deep, and they had big plays and we didn’t execute on both sides of the ball,” said Graber, as Rancocas Valley had a 66- yard run and a 58-yard pass play for touchdowns in the third quarter. “Our offensive game plan was there, and we didn’t execute. It’s been frustrating. We’ve put in a lot of time and effort and it’s been a grind; it’s tough when you’re not successful.”
Allentown will play without wide receiver Rob McClees, who has a broken collarbone, but the rest of the lineup is healthy enough to play.
If Allentown beats Hopewell Valley, it can finish the regular season either .500 with a tie in its final regular-season game Nov. 7 against Trenton Central High School or with a winning record at 5-4 if it beats Trenton. A loss to Hopewell Valley Oct. 30 could knock the Redbirds out of the playoffs and into a consolation game.
Girls soccer
It was sweet revenge for Allentown (14- 3) when the girls soccer team beat Princeton High School, 2-1, Oct. 23 on a pair of goals by Kali Hartshorn in the Mercer County Tournament quarterfinals. Allentown had lost to Princeton (9-4-1) by a 3-2 score earlier in the season. Allentown goalkeeper Ali DeSalvatore stopped three Princeton shots on goal.
Allentown played in the semifinals Oct. 26 in Hightstown against Hopewell Valley (17-1-1), a quarterfinals victor over Pennington School, 2-1. Hopewell Valley beat Allentown, 3-0, earlier in the season.
“That game [against Princeton] was the best game we played all season. We dominated them,” Allentown coach Kim Maurer said, believing her team played with more intensity. “It’s a great time for our players to be playing together. We’ve been dominating a lot of games and not finishing.”
Hartshorn agreed that the Princeton game was her team’s best this season and that they’re playing consistently stronger of late.
“We’ve been playing great and want to keep that going,” Hartshorn said. “We’re working as a team and communicating more.”
She believes her team can generate more offense against Hopewell Valley than in the first meeting.
“We played too much defense and not enough offense to counterattack them,” Hartshorn said. “We have to step up our defense and play more offense.”
Hartshorn remembered the previous trip to the Mercer County Tournament finals when she was a freshman and missed a penalty kick in a shootout that Pennington won, 4-3, after both teams played to a 1-1 tie in regulation.
The Allentown vs. Hopewell Valley winner plays in the finals Oct. 28 against the winner of top-seed Princeton Day School (15-1-1) and Notre Dame High School (12- 2-1). Allentown hopes to win its game despite playing without freshman Emma Pascarella, who has scored eight goals but sustained a knee injury.
The Redbirds also hope to play Notre Dame in the title game to avenge a 2-1 loss earlier in the season that included a controversial call when a go-ahead goal by Allentown was called back.
Last week, Allentown won its county tournament opener, 3-0, over Lawrence High School Oct. 21 as Toni Catelli, Veronica Gotilla and Pascarella scored.
Goals by Hartshorn and Delaney Matthews gave Allentown a 2-0 lead at halftime against Ewing High School Oct. 19, and the Redbirds went on to win, 2-1.
Cross-country
Devon Hoernlein finished third with a time of 19:11.29, as Allentown’s girls crosscountry team placed eighth in the Mercer County Championships at Thompson Park in Jamesburg Oct. 23. Nat Byrnes led the boys, who were 10th in the team standings, with a 53rd-place finish in 17:44.88.
Jesse Bragger was the next best runner for the girls, finishing 17th in 20:26.16, followed by Sara Gutter in 21st place (20:31.36). Sami Tendler was 70th in 23:20.56.
Matt Gregor was right behind Byrnes for the boys in 17:49.44 for 55th place, followed by Tom Bethea (17:54.25, 59th place), Charlie Carey (17:55.43, 60th) and Hunter Mulryne (18:06.36, 64th).
Boys soccer
Allentown (3-10-1) lost, 2-0, to Steinert High School Oct. 21 in the Mercer County Tournament opener. Chris Reeder and Joe Jurik shared time in goal.
Max Allen scored twice and assisted on goals by Mohammed Kotby and Hunter Kytowicz as Allentown beat Ewing, 4-2, Oct. 19.