ALL IN: Hun School field hockey player Ali Ieva, right, dribbles the ball upfield last Monday in the Mercer County Tournament final as Leah Rose-Seiden of Princeton High defends her. Senior forward Ieva tallied a goal and an assist in the final as second-seeded Hun edged top-seeded Princeton High 2-1 in a penalty shootout after the foes tied 3-3 through regulation and 20 minutes of overtime. It marked the first outright county crown for the Raiders, who improved to 13-3 with the win. In upcoming action, Hun will be pursuing another championship as it competes in the Prep state tourney where it is seeded third and hosting sixth-seeded Blair Academy in a semifinal contest on October 25. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Ali Ieva wasn’t fazed when the Hun School field hockey team found itself trailing Princeton High 2-0 early in the Mercer County Tournament final last Monday evening.

“We have been in this situation before, we know how it goes,” said senior forward and co-captain Ieva. “We just come out with a lot of grit. We wanted it so bad. We haven’t been in here since 1994 and we wanted to make history.”

The second-seeded Raiders displayed grit, scoring three straight goals to forge ahead of top-seeded PHS heading into the fourth quarter.

Ieva tallied the go-ahead goal with 2:55 left in the third quarter.

“I was just so excited for my team,” said Ieva, reflecting on her tally. “I was able to get it in in the last minute, I was happy for my team.”

But the high-powered Tigers battled back as PHS senior star Delaney Keegan scored with 2:25 left in regulation to force overtime.

Hun was undaunted as it headed into OT. “We have a record of winning in overtime so this is nothing new for us,” said Ieva. “We wanted it so bad, we were hungry. We just play three minutes at a time, and we just focused on the win.”

The Raiders, though, didn’t win in overtime as neither team could find the cage in 20 minutes of extra action.

With the game heading to a penalty shootout, Hun finally pulled out the victory and the program’s first title as it out-dueled PHS 2-1 in the five rounds of the tense shootout. Phoebe Thielmann and Maya Zahlan scored the goals for Hun in the shootout while senior goalie and Lehigh commit Norah Kempson turned away four PHS shots.

“We were just trying to take it one at a time,” said Ieva. “I am happy for Norah. She did amazing, we could not have done it without her.”

Kempson, for her part, stuck to a routine as she dealt with the pressure of the shootout.

“It was breathing, in, out; I have a little ritual, I bang the sides of the goal post and then then inside of my pads and then I just go,” said a grinning Kempson. “I trust my skill, I know that I can do it.”

In thwarting the Tiger shooters, Kempson employed a basic strategy.

“I force wide and focus on the ball at all times and then when I am out of the goal, I can’t watch or else my thoughts will come back,” said Kempson, who was mobbed by her teammates after stopping the final PHS shot. “I want to keep breathing, that is why I was facing away in the corner the whole time. I just heard the backboard and trusted my team.”

For Ieva, the team’s title was the produce of trust across the board.

“It means everything; we are just so excited, we are in the books,” said Ieva. “Our team dynamic is amazing. We are all best friends on and off the field. We want to support each other through and through and I think that carries onto the field.”

As a co-captain, Ieva looks to enhance that dynamic. “I try to bring the team spirit and energy and just unite us in any way that I can,” said Ieva.

Hun head coach Tracey Arndt credited her squad with developing a unshakable spirit over the years.

“My first year we were 3-13 so to get to here is really important,” said Arndt. “These girls went through COVID. They went through games where we were losing 6-0 at halftime several times. They just kept persevering, they kept getting through it. They are the ones that are there for morning workouts. They are in the gym at 6:15 in the mornings. They are doing the extra that I need and we all know it takes. It just makes it even that much sweeter when the hard work pays off.”

The Raiders displayed persistence in overcoming the 2-0 deficit against PHS.

“We knew we couldn’t go down their gut; in the beginning I think we had the jitters and so we kept going down their gut,” said Arndt. “Delaney [Keegan] is really good, the center of their field is really good. Once we were able to settle in, we did fine. Down 2-0, what I am really proud about is that maybe even this September or this time last September, we would have been down. You would have seen the shoulders sag.”

Instead, the Raiders kept pressing forward as they put the Tigers on their heels.

“I keep telling them it is like a basketball game, just grab the ball and go back; whoever scores more at the end is the winner, not who scored first,” said Arndt, who got goals from Ally Eastman and Thielmann in addition to Ieva. “We feel that we have a strong core who can really keep possession. I think we were keeping possession, we just weren’t able to finish. Phoebe was on tonight and we knew that if we can get a straight shot off that we could maybe get some tips in there. We had to get shots on cage. That was the biggest thing and we thought we could put it away from there.”

Having Kempson in the cage was a big plus as Hun went through its first shootout of a season after being tested in overtime contests.

“The only one we hadn’t been in was a shootout and I will take Norah any day and twice on Monday,” said Arndt.

Arndt credited Ieva with taking her game to a higher level this fall.

“Midway through the season, I put her as our unsung hero and she is quickly turning into one of our MVPs,” said Arndt. “She is getting in good spots. She is doing the simple, she is getting down. What I love about her is that she is committed to her teammates, she is committed to the team. She is not a club player, it is not like some of these other girls who really want to go off and play in college. I tell these girls all of the time, I don’t need you to be the best on the team, I need you to be the best for the team. I think that Ali epitomizes that.”

In upcoming action, Hun, now 13-3, will be pursuing another championship as it competes in the Prep state tourney where they are seeded third and hosting sixth-seeded Blair Academy in a semifinal contest on October 25.

“We will see how it goes, we are taking it day-by-day,” said Arndt. “We keep joking all of these things are extra time together. We are running out of time, so I said two overtimes — we just got more time. Oh a shootout, we just got more time. We get another chance to play on Wednesday and we do our best and the rest is going to come.”

Ieva, for her part, is confident that the Raiders will keep giving their best effort.

“We are hungry for more, it is amazing,” said Ieva. “This year we really turned it up. We did bond as a team during COVID and then all of us worked really hard in the offseason. We have been in the weight room and just training all summer. I feel like it really paid off.”