JACK OF ALL TRADES: Hun School boys’ soccer player Jack Tarzy boots the ball in a game earlier this season. Last Saturday, sophomore midfielder/forward Tarzy and 12th-seeded Hun battled hard in falling 1-0 to fourth-seeded Princeton High in a Mercer County Tournament quarterfinal contest. The Raiders, now 5-6-2, will be starting play in the state Prep A tournament this week where they are seeded fourth and will host fifth-seeded Blair in a first round contest on October 23. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

On paper, it didn’t look like the Hun School boys’ soccer team was destined to stick around very long in the Mercer County Tournament.

The MCT bracket had the 12th-seeded Raiders playing at fifth-seeded Hopewell Valley in a first round contest last Thursday.

But building on a recent hot streak, Hun pulled out a dramatic win over HoVal on penalty kicks after the teams played to a 0-0 draw through regulation and two overtimes.

“The kids have been playing really well,” said Hun head coach Pat Quirk. “The Hopewell game is probably the best game we have played in a long time.”

Playing at fourth-seeded Princeton High in a quarterfinal contest last Saturday morning, Hun kept up its good work. After surrendering an early goal, the Raiders responded by producing some superb soccer, earning a lot of possession and generating a slew of corner kicks.

“I thought we controlled most of the game; we gave up that one goal and we were trying to scramble to get one ourselves,” said Quirk.

Hun never could get that tally as it ended up falling by that 1-0 margin.

“The midfield has been great,” said Quirk, whose team moved to 5-6-2 with the defeat. “I thought one of the corners was going to go in but unfortunately we were a little flatfooted inside the box.”

Junior goalie Alex Donahue commanded the box on the defensive end, making seven saves in the loss.

“Alex stopped a couple of breakaways and made a couple of close saves,” said Quirk. “He has been doing really well all  season.”

Three of Hun’s veteran stalwarts, seniors Chris Antar and Tishe Olaleye along with junior Amar Anand, also did well against PHS.

“Chris played a phenomenal game, going into the back,” added Quirk.

“Tishe and Amar did really well, they controlled the midfield. We were just unlucky inside the box, that is how soccer is.”

With Hun starting play in the state Prep A tournament this week where it is seeded fourth and will host fifth-seeded Blair in a first round contest on October 23, Quirk is confident that his squad keep raising its game.

“I thought we were going to do it again today and go back to Hopewell and play in the county semis; unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way,” said Quirk. “Right now we are playing our best soccer as a full team.”