VITAL CONTRIBUTOR: Hun School girls’ lacrosse goalie Angelina Vitale, right, looks to clear the ball in a game earlier this season. Last Friday, junior star Vitale celebrated her 17th birthday by making nine saves to help Hun defeat Princeton Day School 10-6. The Raiders, who lost 12-8 to the Shipley School (Pa.) last Monday to move to 4-5, host Germantown Academy (Pa.) on April 30 and then play at Lawrenceville on May 3 in the state Prep A semis. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Last Friday was Angelina Vitale’s 17th birthday, and she celebrated by giving a gift to the Hun School girls’ lacrosse team as it played at the Princeton Day School.

Playing under rental lights brought in for the night game, junior goalie Vitale saw the ball fine, producing a brilliant performance that saw her make nine saves including several point blank stops as Hun stifled PDS for a 10-6 win.

Vitale and her teammates were fired up for the Friday night lights clash with their crosstown rival.

“We played a hard game against them last year and didn’t come out on top,” said Vitale. “We worked hard in practice and really came out strong today with energy. It was their home field so we knew we had to bring a lot of energy and intensity and play with heart.”

The Raider defense showed plenty of heart as it clogged up the crease area to thwart the Panthers and jump out to a 7-1 halftime lead.

“It was really stay stick-on-stick with the cutters and play with speed,” said Vitale. “We have a lot of new players on defense so it just is digging deep. If they can’t get the ball, they can’t score. We really stuck with them, we stayed on their sticks.”

Vitale stuck with it as she dealt with the somewhat dimly lit field.

”Looking up into the light is a little hard sometimes,” said Vitale. “On clears, I was running with the ball so I could make sure that I could get it to my teammates, it was staying big in the goal, that is all you can do.”

Hun maintained its focus as PDS started the second half with a 3-1 run but could never get closer than four goals.

“We got the defense together, we talked about what we were doing and we made sure not to let that get us down,” said Vitale. “You can’t let one goal determine the momentum of the game. We would get a good
turnover and start it right back up.”

In her third season with the Hun program, Vitale has become a vocal leader on the field for the Raiders.

“I love playing lacrosse, I love my teammates and I want to be a voice for them,” said Vitale. “I want to help them as much as I can. I make sure that I am making them feel comfortable and not letting them get down on themselves. If we let a goal in, it is the whole unit together. We need to make sure that not just one person is taking the blame. I would like to be that voice and lead them. If they don’t know where to go, I help them out with that and just make sure that we are keeping our energy up.”

Hun head coach Kathleen Jaeger liked the energy her team displayed from the opening draw.

“I think coming off the game with Hill (a 16-9 loss on April 20), we were ready to go,” said Jaeger. “Hill was a very tough team, we came ready to go from that game so thanks to them. I think the big goal today was to stay big, to stay playing together and getting our heads up.”

The trio of Ava Olender, Olivia Kim, and Maggie Maffia helped Hun dominate draw controls and also provided the offense as Olender tallied five goals with Kim and Maffia adding two apiece.

“Ava, Olivia, and Maggie do a great job, the three of them together,” said Jaeger. “They were not afraid to try something a little bit new on the draw, It kind of went to everybody. There wasn’t just one of them getting every single one. It was nice to see them help their teammates. One boxes while one gets ball.”

Jaeger credited Vitale with doing a great job in goal. “Angelina has this calm, composed demeanor to her at all times,” said Jaeger. “I think the defense really fed off of that today, knowing that she was behind them. They had the confidence so they were not afraid to put on a little more pressure than they normally would.”

When PDS put the pressure on Hun with its second half run, the Raiders responded.

“I think the intensity from PDS was awesome, it really challenged us to play to the top of our game,” said Jaeger. “It came down to ball possession, who wins the draw, who had the offensive possession and who was able to take control of it. We played a lot of defense in the second half. I think in transition it was just continuing to keep possession and take our time rather than rush because of the excitement and intensity of the game.”

In Jaeger’s view, the intensity displayed by Hun last Friday bodes well for the rest of the spring.

“In the season, you continue to build on what you do each game and I think we really saw that tonight,” said Jaeger, whose team lost 12-8 to the Shipley School (Pa.) last Monday to move to 4-5 and hosts Germantown Academy (Pa.) on April 30 and then plays at Lawrenceville on May 3 in the state Prep A semis.

“They were ready to play together, they were ready to play with intensity and energy and just not give up.”

Vitale, for her part, believes things are coming together for the Raiders.

“We have had a pretty rough start and it is just getting that momentum,” said Vitale. “We just needed to get our energy up and get our chemistry together. We have been working really hard in practice to bond and to work on the small things. That really showed today.”