Joanna Hallac was pleased by the way her Hun School girls’ soccer team performed in the first half as it hosted Princeton Day School last week.

The local rivals were locked in a scoreless tie at halftime in the September 13 contest, with Hun generating some superb chances by Nicole Apuzzi and Bryonna Worthy.

“I thought in the first half we were more dangerous,” said Hun head coach Hallac. “We had better looks at the goal.”

But after PDS got the benefit of a controversial obstruction call in the box which led to an indirect free kick and a goal off the rebound for the Panthers midway through the second half, things went downhill for Hun as it fell 2-0.

While Hallac was upset by the officiating decision, she acknowledged that her players were on their heels for much of the second half.

“It is disappointing when referees insert themselves into games that way and impact it but it is like I told the girls, we had opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on,” said Hallac. “Referees don’t decide games, our play does. They were the better team in the second half, they took it up a notch and we just didn’t match it.”

It was disappointing for Hun to not have the services of junior star forward  and University of Miami-bound Kara Borden, who was sidelined for the PDS game with a leg injury.

“That makes a big difference,” said Hallac, referring to Borden’s inability to take the field.

“She draws so much attention that having her in the game easily could have opened somebody else to have an opportunity. She is the kind of player that makes things happen.”

Junior midfielder Apuzzi and sophomore transfer Worthy tried their best to make things happen offensively.

“I did like the way they played, Worthy is a nice addition,” said Hallac of Worthy who scored along with Abby Gray and Shannon Dudeck as Hun fell 5-3 to Germantown Academy (Pa.) last Thursday to fall to 0-2-1.

“Apuzzi is always a dangerous player, she had that shot in the first half; Grace Barbara made a great save for them to keep it out.”

In Hallac’s view, her players need to keep their heads up to get on the winning track.

“It is disappointing but we will learn what we need to learn and will go forward from here,” said Hallac, whose team plays at East Brunswick on September 24 and at Pennington on September 27.

“There is a lot of season left. It is a long season so we will bounce back from this.”