Girls Soccer off to Rollercoaster Start

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by Kate Shanahan

Goalie Megan Wilke starts new season off strong.

Nick Holt, Editor-in-Chief

Kicking off their season at home against Princeton Day School, an unusual opponent for any Hillsborough team, the girls got settled in during the first half.  A competitive start to the year, holding at a stale 0-0 at halftime, the game was much closer than the final score tells.  Princeton Day School pulled away with two scores in the second half coming from Jules Romano and Kelly Beal, with Hillsborough unable to answer.

Though slow starts are bound to happen for a team who was been denied most practice to do COVID-19 precautions, the girls looked to bounce back with a game against Phillipsburg on a Wednesday afternoon.

Led by their returning varsity stars, Hillsborough came out of the gate strong, going up 2-0 early in the first half.  Leading the scoring attack was seniors Ava Curtis and Kara Magliaro, who both got on the board for Hillsborough in their first in conference game.  Junior Sophia Iovino was also able to make an impact, assisting on one of the two goals scored, along with goalies Megan Wilke and Annalise Drab holding the shutout, as Hillsborough secured their first win, an important one, of the season.

Next on the schedule were rivals Bridgewater-Raritan, as Hillsborough made their second road trip of the season, a short one onto enemy turf.

A tight game throughout, the score 1-1 going into half, it was again impacted by Curtis who was able to put one in the back of the net for your Hillsborough Raiders, assisted by fellow senior Cynthia Amankwaa.  Though, unfortunately, Bridgewater-Raritan was able to make the difference in the final stages of the game, pushing them over the hump bringing them to their first win of the season, and Hillsborough, their second loss.

A bumpy start to the season for the Raiders, though they should be able to steal a win or two in the upcoming games.  The next game is not until Oct. 21, when they take on North Hunterdon away, the last of their three game road trip.