The Allentown High School girls’ soccer team is undefeated and unlimited in its potential.
Allentown’s impressive play this season continued when the Redbirds soared to a 5-0 victory over Princeton High School at on Oct. 10 and then scored another victory at Ewing High School, 3-0, on Oct. 12.
Allentown coach Kim Mauer is one person who is thinking big.
“I expect to go far [in the playoffs],” Mauer said after the game against Princeton. “If they keep playing like this, I mean, we’re only getting better.”
The coach believes the opportunity to make a deep postseason run is there for the team, which improved to 13-0 after its shutout against Ewing.
The Redbirds, who are in prime position to take the Colonial Valley Conference Valley Division title and seek to gain a high seed in the Mercer County Tournament that began on Oct. 17, were scheduled to visit Trenton Central High School on Oct. 16.
“[Winning the division and getting a top seed in the Mercer County Tournament] was one of our goals in the beginning of the year,” Mauer said. “I’m proud to see that we’ve almost got it, but we still have some games to win first. [We] still have work to do.”
Allentown was the 10th seed in the Mercer County Tournament last year, when the Redbirds fell to second-seeded The Pennington School in the quarterfinals. Allentown was eliminated in the semifinals of the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 3 tournament last year by top-seeded Wall High School to finish the season with a 12-7 record.
The victory over Princeton came when Allentown’s senior players were honored. The seniors were introduced with their families before the game. After the game, the players celebrated with food and treats on the field with their families and friends.
“It’s senior night,” Mauer said. “You have to win on senior night.”
“We just wanted to come out hard,” senior center midfielder Carly Roche, who had a goal and an assist in the game, said. “It was our senior day, and we were super excited. We knew it was going to be a hard game. I’m just so happy that we came out with so much energy, and we were really looking for a win, so I’m glad we got it.”
Junior goalkeeper Abby Howell pitched the shutout.
“I think we had a lot of energy today,” Howell said. “[We definitely had] more energy than we’ve had in the past few games. It definitely played a major factor in the 50/50 balls and getting those lose balls to the front of the net. I think that really made a difference today.”
Howell was also in net for the clean sheet against Ewing, giving her nine shutouts on the season.
The Redbirds’ players believe the team has been focused all year, which is preparing them for the county tournament the state tournament that gets underway later this season.
“We’re just going to keep working hard at practice,” Roche said. “We know what we have to do, and we get it done. It’s so much fun because we all work really well together, and it’s awesome.”
“We’re just staying focused,” Howell said. “We’re making sure everyone has the right mindset coming into the game. We’re working hard in practice and focused on the little things. So once we get on the field, it’s going to be easy from there.”
Allentown has set high goals.
“We’re going to try to go all the way,” Roche said.
“That’s the hope,” Howell said.
