By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
On X @tortreports
AUDUBON — The Haddon Township High girls soccer team has had some tough luck against divisional rival Audubon in recent memory. No one knows that better than Hawks’ head coach Chip Witte.
Heading into Monday’s playoff tilt against the defending sectional champion Green Wave, Witte’s Hawks were 0-4-1 the past three years against Audubon and had been outscored 6-2 in those games.
Losing twice to Audubon again this season, it didn’t seem like anything was going to change in the third meeting.
Oh, how the script flipped.
“We knew we were going to see them again,” Witte said. “We just kept talking about this year, ‘how do we figure out a way to beat them?’ The first two times, we figured out how notto beat them, and this third time we talked about set pieces being the key. We found some ways to get some set pieces and we finished them today.”
Fourth-seeded Haddon Township’s senior-led effort helped the Hawks finally finish top-seeded Audubon, 2-1, in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 1 semifinal at Green Wave Park.
The Hawks (13-6-2, 4-5-1 Colonial Liberty)will host sixth-seeded Palmyra on Thursday in the sectional final.
“That was the biggest game of the season for us,” senior Emerson McDonald said. “We previously lost two times this season to them but only by 1-0, so we had a vengeance, we had revenge to come back on this field. We lost two years ago in the same position. We had to come out with energy, the fans were great. Our energy was high coming off the bus and we knew we had to get it done.”
“I’ve been working four years for this. I’m so excited. We know we have a night game on Thursday. This is our year. We knew this was a special team coming into the beginning of the year, we’re just going to get it done.”
The victory gave the Hawks vengeance after losing to Audubon in the sectional semifinal two years ago. Haddon Township got its long awaited get-back.
“It’s been a point of frustration, but what a kudos to them,” Witte said. “That is a fantastic team and for three years we’ve been chasing them. I mean, if we play them five times — I’m not sure if we win more than they do, but today was our day and I’ll take it.
“We knew that it was going to be another grind-it-out battle. We realized the first two matchups — we had one corner kick in those first two games. All season long we have done well finishing on corner kicks, and today that’s exactly what we drew up. We worked on it yesterday (at practice), figuring out how to get more corner kicks and today we were able to do that.”
It sure was the Hawks’ day.
McDonald, a senior, tallied the first goal of the evening by either team midway through the second half on a corner kick from fellow senior Sammy Farnham. Samantha Martin, also a senior, was able to extend the lead to 2-0 after being in the right place at the right time on a free kick set piece from Farnham.
Makenna Ammon scored the lone goal for Audubon to edge a goal closer, but it was just too little, too late for the Green Wave.
“This senior class has been special for three years and I knew they were going to be this year,” Witte continued. “They have not disappointed and they found a way. Sammy Martin has had a bunch of games where she’s been close to goals and she’s been frustrated because they haven’t gone in, and it was great to see her get one today.”
Taking on more of a non-scoring role, Farnham has a team-high 18 assists this season — 14 more than she had in 2023.
“Ever since the beginning of the season I told her to take on a different role and be the assist person this year because we have some talented forwards and some talented freshmen,” said coach Witte. “She’s taken that role on, and she’s just put balls all season long exactly where they needed to be.”
Reaching the sectional final has a special meaning for Farnham as her older sister Sydney, a 2021 Haddon Township graduate, played a main role on the Hawks’ South Jersey championship team in 2020 (Haddon Township won the South West A Final during the COVID playoff bracket).
“It’s really special to have this game at home,” Sammy Farnham said. “They won it her senior year and we haven’t won it since. It would be a cherry on top for this family and this community.”
“We have a really strong senior squad this year and we just want South Jersey so bad,” added Farnham. “Audubon is a respectful, competitive team and we respect them so much, they work so hard. It was really good to see us get a win, because it’s a rivalry. Ultimately, we worked harder today, and it showed.”
The hard work did show. Now, the Hawks are flying high into the South Jersey Group 1 final.
“My goal when I got here was to get to that South Jersey final, and then figure it out from there,” said Witte, who will be stepping away after this season to spend more time with his children. “We’ve been trying to do that for the last two years. I haven’t even looked at Palmyra, because this was the big dog we had to get through first.”
They got through it.
“I’m ecstatic,” Farnham added. “This team has been working hard all season. Everyone underestimated us coming into this game, and I am so happy. The drive that I saw from my teammates today was like nothing I’ve seen this season. It’s so good to see all of us working so hard.”
Click on this link to view the full post-game video interview: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCP1gY_SQbT/?igsh=MXFlMzZhb2I2c202MA==
Contact Brian Tortella: btortreportssj@gmail.com.
