The following game recaps were submitted by the Hopewell Valley Soccer Association coaches. The games took place Saturday, Nov. 3 and Sunday, Nov. 4.
Division Three Boys
In the first round of the playoffs, Stark and Stark rallied from an early one goal deficit to defeat Jack’s Nursery by a score of 2-1, advancing to the championship game next weekend. Starting the scoring for Jack’s Nursery was Dan English, who ripped a shot from the right side to give his team a 1-0 lead. Stark and Stark responded in the first half when Jackson Blackwell scored off a well-placed corner kick from Tommy Irvine to tie the game. In the second half, Aaron Nulman scored off a perfect throw-in from Tommy Irvine, which was ultimately the game-winning goal. The defense and midfield play was consistent for the entire game, and a key to the victory was once again goalie Adam Rise who allowed just one goal against a very fast offensive team.
Division Two Girls
In their semi-final playoff game, Dr. McDonough’s Live Wires battled the Northfield Bank Tigers to a 0-0 tie. In the end, the Live Wires prevailed 3-2 on penalty kicks.
In the other semi-final game, the DeSimone Orthodontics Blue Feet held on to defeat Franco’s Pizza 1-0, with Sophia Pellegrino scoring the only goal of the game.
Division Two Boys
In their first playoff game of the season, the Princeton Nassau Pediatrics boys’ team played against Horvath & Giacin in a nail-biting 2-1 victory that ended in penalty kicks. Kaempfer Harjes was superb in goal and Braiden Kelly and Emil Rybovic were able to score the game winners for Princeton Nassau Pediatrics.
On Sunday, Rely Mechanical faced Wilson Apple Funeral Home in the opening round of the playoffs. Conor O’Boyle paced Rely’s scoring opportunities with a hat trick while Eli Pashman added another goal in 4-0 victory.
Team HVSA-White faced Northwestern Mutual on Sunday afternoon. Chance Hutnik scored three goals for Team HVSA-White. Goalies Vincent Matticoli and Juan Geller were at the top of their game, making big saves for Team HVSA-White. At the end of regulation play, the game was tied at 3. Jason Jaffe came up big for Team HVSA-White being the only player to score for his team in the shootout. Northwestern Mutual was able to score in the sudden death round, ending the season for Team HVSA-White.
