IN GOOD HANDS: Hun School girls’ soccer goalie Leah Sutphen gathers in the ball last Thursday against Princeton Day School. Junior goalie Sutphen played a superb game in a losing cause, making nine saves as Hun fell 1-0 to PDS in overtime on an own goal. The Raiders, who improved to 3-1 with a 1-0 win over Monroe, play at Germantown Academy (Pa.) on September 22 before hosting Pennington on September 26. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Joanna Hallac sensed that her Hun School girls’ soccer team was going to find itself in a nail-biter as it played at Princeton Day School last Thursday.

With the local rivals having played a number of one-goal games in recent years, the 2017 meeting between the local rivals followed that script.

The team were knotted in a scoreless tie at the end of regulation and PDS ended up getting a 1-0 win on an own goal when a Panther free kick bounced off a Hun defender and went into the back of the net.

“It was the usual, I think both teams played their butts off and it was a nice game,” said Hun head coach Hallac. “That is a crappy way to end a game like that.”

While the ending was frustrating, Hallac was proud of the nice work produced by her back line against PDS.

“The defense was unbelievable, Leah Sutphen in goal and Brenna Wehner, Kendall Dandridge, and Amanda Jenkins, until she had to leave, kept us in it and they kept us going,” asserted Hallac, who got another strong defensive effort last Saturday when Hun defeated Monroe 1-0 and improved to 3-1.

Hallac acknowledged that Hun needs to get it going more on the attack end.

“Both teams had a lot of wide open opportunities and we need to pull the trigger,” said Hallac.

“I want them to play with their teammates and trust their teammates but there is a time to be selfish and a time to be selfless. When you are in front of the goal with no one on you, that is the time to be selfish.”

In Hallac’s view, there should be good times ahead for her squad. “We had two good wins (2-1 over Ewing on September 9 and 3-1 over George School on September 13) coming in,” said Hallac, whose team plays at Germantown Academy (Pa.) on September 22 before hosting Pennington on September 26.

“We can regroup and rebound. It is early in the season as it always is when we play PDS. We both have some young players that are still learning.”