By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
@tortreports on Instagram
HADDON TOWNSHIP — Last season, the Haddon Township High girls soccer team won just two of their first seven games against Colonial Conference opponents.
Despite ending the season on a high note by making a run to the South Jersey Group 1 title, the Hawks ended with just three wins against divisional opponents — and as a result, finished the season just above .500.
Things are different this time around as Haddon Township is off to a great start to its 2026 campaign with a 7-2 triumph over divisional rival West Deptford in the Hawks’ home opener on Wednesday. In their two meetings last year, West Deptford trounced Haddon Township by a 10-1 combined score.
“It was a great start,” Haddon Township coach Mike McGovern said. “Last year, we weren’t successful with our first run through the division, so we’re starting in a better place than we were last year.”
Despite losing some key pieces to graduation, the Hawks (2-0, 1-0 Colonial Liberty) returned most of their top contributors from last fall and that certainly was evident. Junior forward Kaitlyn Martin tallied three goals for her second straight hat trick, the third time in her career she’s accomplished that feat.
“I wasn’t really expecting it. I knew I had to show up today and we wanted some revenge on West Deptford. Some of my goals were to do my best offensively, so I think I did pretty well,” Martin said. “The last couple of seasons, we haven’t been off to a great start, and with winning the last two sectional championships, I feel really confident going into this year.”
Kaitlyn and her sophomore sister, Julianna, have been a pivotal part of the Hawks’ recent success. The younger Martin scored twice and assisted one of her sisters’ scores in the victory.
“They’re phenomenal,” McGovern said of the sisters. “Kaitlyn has taken it to another level from where she was last year. She was a little banged up last year, and we still got a ton out of her, but she has come into the season in great shape. She’s just a force that everyone we play is going to feel.”
West Deptford (1-3, 1-1 Colonial Liberty) felt that force from the Martins, as well as some new faces. Among them was freshman Senya Kennedy, who scored her first career goal off a corner kick in the first half.
“We lost some key players in some key areas and we have had some younger players step up,” McGovern added. “We weren’t really sure what they were going to do. I was confident in them, but until you see it in the game, you never know. They did wonderfully today.
“We’re playing one of the best players in the entire conference and probably all of South Jersey, and they didn’t back down.”
McGovern is referring to West Deptford junior Ella Simko, who has 40 career goals in just over two full seasons. Despite the tough loss and start to their South Jersey Group 2 title defense, Eagles’ coach Jen DiLorenzo said she is optimistic that things will turn around soon.
“Our girls’ motto that is on their shirts is to be ‘better than yesterday.’ That’s our goal, is to keep improving each day and to be better than yesterday,” DiLorenzo said. “We need to take responsibility for not only the good stuff that we do, but any of the bad things that we do. We need to learn from that and try to keep making each other better by making ourselves better.
“I think we have a talented group here. They’re fighters. We’re trying to find how we fit and how we fit together. It’s a long season, and I’m excited to see what we have for the next couple of games coming up.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Haddon Heights hosts Collingswood on Friday at 4 p.m. West Deptford travels to Haddonfield on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
