GO TIME: Hun School boys soccer goalkeeper Diego Pena clears the ball during a game earlier this season. Last week, senior star Pena made six saves in a losing cause as second-seeded Hun fell 1-0 to third-seeded and eventual champion Pennington in the semifinals of the tournament. Mercer County. The Raiders, who topped Lawrenceville 3-1 last Saturday to improve to 11-3-2, will compete this week in the Prep A state tournament where they are seeded second and host a semifinal on Oct. 27. Hun will host Peddie on October 29 in a regular season game. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
By Bill Alden
After spending last summer playing for the Dominican Republic U-17 national soccer program, Diego Pena was ready for his sophomore season with the Hun School men’s soccer team.
“You work there with a lot of professionals and they help shape the way you are as a person and as a football player,” goalkeeper Hun Pena said.
Last week, Pena showed what a good player he has become, making six saves, including spectacular saves, in a losing cause as second-seeded Hun lost 1-0 to Pennington , third seed and eventual champion, at the Mercer County tournament.
While Hun blanked the Red Hawks 3-0 in a regular season game on September 21, Pena and his teammates were ready for a battle in the rematch.
“We were coming into this game with a lot of hype,” Pena said. “It was a game we were looking for. We have to show up and that’s what we did. The first match was very difficult and we came out victorious. In this match they obviously wanted revenge and they came pretty hard.
Pena held the fort with help from Hun’s back line.
“I couldn’t ask for more from my defenders, it was a great game for them,” Pena said. “They played a complete match, they erased everything they should have.”
A tough rebound on Pennington’s Justin Davidyock’s game-winner, which came with 1:30 left in the second half, was the difference in the game.
“I just saw this kid put it over the top,” Pena said. “He was left-handed, so that ball kind of swerved and caught me off guard.”
Hun is seeded second in the Prep A state tournament and could get a rubber match with third-seeded Pennington and faces sixth-seeded Blair in the quarters, with the winner facing the Raiders in the semifinals on the 27th. october.
“It’s this trilogy,” Pena said. “We have to win this last game and we have to win it.”
Hun head coach Pat Quirk was expecting a hard-fought match with the Red Hawks in the MCT clash.
“We knew they were going to come out strong, it didn’t surprise us at all,” Quirk said. “I thought we got over them. With 10-15 minutes left in the half, I thought we were settled. We were moving the ball well.
Pena’s superb play helped Hun weather the storm. “Diego made some big saves for us,” Quirk said. “It’s a great place there for us. In his second year, he can only improve. I’m excited to have it. He distributes the ball well; he made Joey (Bucchere) dangerous on that one.
While Hun had plenty of possession, he struggled in the final third of the pitch.
“I don’t know if we’ve been a little more conservative and sat back a little bit,” Quirk said. “We were in a difficult situation in the last two games, apart from WWP-South (6-1 victory in the MCT quarters on October 15), we had a little difficulty scoring.”
The Raiders were presented with tough decisions as an apparent second-half goal was overturned by officials and a first-half collision between the Pennington goalkeeper and a Hun player on the way to the goal was ruled out. a call even though it seemed like a potential. penalty situation.
“I thought we had one there and they called offsides,” Quirk said. “We had one here in the first half that we thought should have been a penalty. We had dangerous opportunities.
Hun received a call because a Pennington player was shown a red card with 26:44 left in regulation, but the Raiders failed to capitalize on the man advantage despite several forays into the box.
“We had guys in dangerous positions there,” Quirk said. “We kept putting them in the box. They are good in the box, they can defend well.
Although Quirk was disappointed with the result, he was proud of his team’s efforts.
“I thought we played as best we could, other than scoring goals,” said Quirk, whose team topped Lawrenceville 3-1 last Saturday in a regular-season game to improve to 11 -3-2. “We handled what they had and the guys they brought us. We made a little adjustment by placing them on the left side for the entire first half. We managed it better in the second half.
In Pena’s opinion, Hun will handle things better following this setback.
“We learned that we have to play 100 percent all the time,” Pena said. “We can’t lose focus or anything – we have to play hard.”
