By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
MULLICA HILL — When Alaina Lomonaco went to sleep Monday night, she had one goal in her mind: “I want to win against Haddonfield on my birthday, that’s what I was thinking,” she said. “And I did want to score.”
Less than 24 hours later, she made that dream come true.
The Clearview Regional High senior celebrated her 17th birthday in style, scoring the game’s lone goal on a dagger early in the second quarter to lift the Pioneers past Haddonfield, 1-0, on Tuesday afternoon.
“It was awesome,” Lomonaco continued. “We played hard, we wanted it and we played smart today. I saw it was in the circle, I shot it and it went in.”
“They’re always a good, strong, dominant team, so it really came down to playing smart hockey,” coach Brittany Ewan said about Haddonfield. “We knew it was going to come down to who can get the ball in the net.”
And, as always, Ewan’s star forward came through when it mattered most. She now has 11 goals through seven games this season. She had 15 last year in 23 games.
Junior goalie Marissa Buck recorded her third shutout game of the season for the Pioneers (6-1; 1-1 in Tri-County Roya), including a 1-0 victory over No. 13 nationally ranked West Perry (Pa.) in the MAX Field Hockey National High School Invitational at the Proving Grounds on Saturday in Pennsylvania.
“I think that it’s really great for us (playing tough competition) going into the playoffs later in the season,” she said. “It’s been really great this year. I feel like we’ve really picked it up.”
When asked about how she is consistently able to prevent elite talent from getting through the net, she said that she takes it one shot at a time.
“I think it’s really just about focusing on the next shot,” she said. “I can’t get too caught up in my head if I make a mistake, I just have to keep on going.”
Haddonfield senior and Penn State commit Olivia Marthins, who is just seven goals away from 100 for her career, was held scoreless by Buck & Co.
Despite the loss, Haddonfield coach Camille Maimone said she thought the Bulldawgs (3-4, 3-1 Colonial Liberty) played a full 60 minutes against one of the region’s top teams.
“I think we dominated this game,” she said. “Honestly, I think we really dominated. We played for 60 minutes, something we’ve been really working on. I’m proud of the way they played. I’m more frustrated with the things we cannot control. That’s something we have to get over, and move onto the next one. Hopefully we can play just as well. We have Shawnee on Thursday, so another big one. I fully believe we’re going to take this and grow from it.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Haddonfield travels to Shawnee on Thursday at 4:15 p.m. Clearview hosts Washington Township today at 4 p.m.
Contact Brian Tortella: btortreportssj@gmail.com.
