Kara Borden and her teammates on the Hun School girls’ soccer team were out of synch in the early going as they hosted Germantown Academy (Pa.) last week.

“In the first half I felt like we weren’t possessing the ball,” said freshman forward Borden.

“We were kicking it in and just hoping for the best. We weren’t playing as a team. At halftime, coach [Joanna Hallac] said just relax and play our game and play how we know.”

In the second half, with Hun trailing 1-0, the precocious Borden displayed her game, chipping in a goal to knot the game at 1-1, which turned out to be the final score as neither team found the back of the net over the rest of the contest.

“I got the ball and the goalie was out and then she turned to run back and I thought I don’t know whether I should shoot it or not,” said Borden, recalling her tally, the first of her Hun career.

“I took a touch and relaxed and I tried to chip it over her head and it almost hit the crossbar. I got so nervous. I was waiting, like is that going in. It felt so good when it went in.”

Borden is hoping to get a lot more goals in for Hun this fall. “It is a lot as a freshman forward to score goals, especially when we are down one,” said Borden, who tallied another goal along with an assist last Thursday as Hun edged Princeton Day School 2-1.

“It always feels good when you accomplish what you want to do. Finishing is a great accomplishment and hopefully as the season goes on I can score more and more goals and help my team out.”

Borden knows that it is going to be a challenge to finish on the high school level.

“You play a lot of bigger and older girls, they are just as big and fast as you,” said Borden.

“I usually try to outrun the girls. When I play high school, I can’t so I have to play around girls or combine with others.”

Hun head coach Joanna Hallac lauded Borden for her big goal against Germantown.

“It was exciting,” said Hallac. “I think it hung in the air, it was like slow motion. She was composed under pressure. I thought she did a really nice job reading the situation and finishing.”

Hallac believes Borden can put a lot of pressure on Hun’s foes as the season goes on.

“I expect many more of those from her, I think she can make a big impact,” said Hallac.

“With Marleigh Nociti’s speed and Kara’s tenacity and strength up top, that is a nice combination. Kara causes a lot of headaches for the other team.”

Hun’s strong finish against Germantown was a nice step forward for the squad, which fell 2-1 to South Brunswick in its season opener on September 13. “In the second half they came to life, there was more spark,” said Hallac. “They were playing with a sense of urgency. They were playing the kind of soccer that I know that they can play, just being dangerous and creating dangerous chances and actually finishing one of them finally.”

Junior goalie Courtney Arch helped spark the Raiders as she closed the door on Germantown in the second half.

“She is much more confident and much more composed, taking control and command out there,” said Hallac. “It is nice to see her developing. She made a really nice save there at the end to preserve the tie.”

Hun got some composed play up and down the field. “I thought the back line was solid with Ashley Maziarz and Jess Johnson,” said Hallac. “Natalie Csapo had a nice game. Jess Sacco was making some nice runs out of the middle. Everyone really contributed.”

In Hallac’s view, Hun is just scratching the surface of how good it can be this fall.

“There are a lot of new players so they are still getting used to playing with each other,” said Hallac, whose team topped Nottingham 5-0 last Saturday to improve to 2-1-1 and plays at the George School (Pa.) on September 26 and at Pennington on September 30.

“I think this was much better, they know what needs to be done. We still have plenty of work to do.”

Borden, for her part, believes Hun can do some big things this fall. “I think we can build from this,” said Borden. “I feel like this is a confidence builder and that we are getting better every single game.”