FINAL SALVO: Hun School girls’ soccer player Nicole Apuzzi boots the ball in recent action. Last Sunday, senior star and co-captain Apuzzi tallied a goal as Hun defeated the Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) 3-0 in their season finale. The win gave the Raiders a final record of 10-7 and helped them clinch the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) title outright as they went 5-0 in league play. Earlier, second-seeded Hun fell 3-0 at top-seeded Pennington in the state Prep A title game on November 1. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Playing at powerhouse Pennington School in the state Prep A girls’ soccer championship game last Thursday evening, the Hun School squad came into the contest shorthanded.

“It was unfortunate that our main forward, Breezy (Bryonna Worthy) was out with a concussion,” said Hun senior midfielder and co-captain Nicole Apuzzi “We had to adapt and that was hard.”

Second-seeded Hun found it hard to get into a rhythm offensively as top-seeded Pennington controlled possession and pulled away to a 3-0 win.

While Apuzzi was disappointed by the outcome, she is proud of how the Raiders played down the stretch after dropping to a 4-5 record in early October.

“If someone had told us in the beginning of the season that we would have made it to the state final, I would have never believed them,” said Apuzzi.

In assessing the squad’s late surge, Apuzzi pointed to a better on-field unity.

“It was amazing, I think this team really stepped up,” said Apuzzi, who tallied a goal as Hun defeated the Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) 3-0 last Sunday to give the Raiders a final record of 10-7 and clinch the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) title outright as they went 5-0 in league play.

“We had a lot of young people. We just started to jell more. We started to feel more comfortable with each other. It just connected.”

As the season went on, Apuzzi starting connecting more on the offensive end, tallying some key goals for the Raiders.

“Being a captain, I had a lot more responsibility,” said Apuzzi, who recently committed to attend Colgate University and join its women’s soccer program. “We needed people to score so I felt as though I should step up.”

Hun head coach Joanna Hallac credits Apuzzi and her classmates, co-captain Kendall Dandridge, Livy Kooker, Kennedy Debow, and Jenna Jarvis with stepping up collectively.

“They are irreplaceable in terms of building this program to what it is today with their leadership on the field and off the field and their play,” said Hallac. “It is going to be a huge loss.”

The loss of Worthy to injury made things tough for Hun in the title game matchup against Pennington.

“Just having her gave us the ability to have other options that were eliminated tonight,” said Hallac.

“We did the best we could with the hand we were dealt. Credit to Pennington with how they played and credit to our girls for the effort they put in. They never gave up.”

In Hallac’s view, winning the MAPL crown was a big deal for the program.

“You always want to peak at the right time and I think the desire for that elusive MAPL crown came with the wins over Hill, Lawrenceville, and Peddie,” said Hallac.

“They have been putting the work in. They had that goal in mind all year. They went for it and they got it and then we were able to get back here, icing on the cake.”

Apuzzi, for her part, is thrilled to end her Hun career with a league title.

“That is amazing; we haven’t won it since something like 2009,” said Apuzzi.

“It has been hard all four years trying to win; it has been like one game each year that kept us from being able to clinch it. But this year, it was good timing.”