Haddonfield Sports Week

As the fall season heads toward the home stretch, the Haddonfield Memorial High School athletic program is busy collecting more hardware. The boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams each completed a perfect regular season, while the girls’ tennis team advanced to the South Jersey Group 2 finals. The girls’ soccer team also inched closer to a conference title, but saw its home winning streak end in the South Jersey Coaches Cup.

BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY

Haddonfield stretched its remarkable dual meet winning streak to 152 and clinched the Colonial Conference title along the way. The Bulldawgs—who have the seventh-longest streak (active or inactive) in the country—swept Haddon Heights, Haddon Township and Sterling.

Greg Halla produced the meet’s fastest time, crossing the line in 15:27. Alex Gigliotti (15:53) and John Greenberg were second and third, respectively. Austin Stoner, Dan Brennan and Mathew Stewart also contributed to the sweep. The Bulldawgs will be back in action Thursday at the Colonial Conference Meet, at Pennypacker Park.

GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRY

Haddonfield clinched another perfect dual season and conference title with a sweep of Haddon Heights, Haddon Township and Sterling.

Natalie McCrudden was the top Bulldawgs’ finisher, placing third at 21:50. A tight pack of Bulldawg runners were right behind her as Lauren DeCoursey (21:54), Meredith Raphelson (21:54), Molly Bolinger (21:55) and Julia Fonshell (21:55) clinching the victory. The Bulldawgs will be back in action Thursday at the Colonial Conference Meet, at Pennypacker Park.

GIRLS’ TENNIS

Haddonfield advanced to the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 2 final with ease, 5-0 over Woodstown. Taylor Ng (6-0, 6-0), Amanda Lanciano (6-0, 6-0) and Victoria Martinez (6-0, 6-0) won at singles, while the teams of Erica Pascocello/Arpie Senopolous (6-0, 6-0) and Chelsea Brown/Sylvia Strauss (6-2, 6-2) won at doubles.

No. 1 Haddonfield (26-0)—which also wrapped up another Colonial Conference title—will face No. 2 Barnetgat, today.

Senopolous and Pascocello also advanced to the state doubles final with a 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6) thriller against a Patricia Chau and Stephanie Chen Schmidt, of Millburn, in the semifinals. They will take on Mendham’s Veronika Fojtu and Lauren Henandez Tuesday at Mercer County Park.

FOOTBALL

The Bulldawgs’ winning streak was halted at three games after a 20-13 loss to Woodbury. Haddonfield led 7-6 at halftime thanks to a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Mike McLaughlin and an extra point from Drew Tomlinson. Woodbury responded with a big third quarter though, as Alabama-bound Anthony Averett threw a pair of touchdowns. Haddonfield was able to get within a score on a 10-yard pass from McLaughlin to Brian Collins late in the third, but was unable to find the end zone in the fourth quarter.

Haddonfield (3-2) will look to get back on track Friday night when it travels to take on Gateway.

FIELD HOCKEY

Haddonfield fell a game under .500 after a 1-2 week. The win came in landslide fassion as the Bulldawgs overwhelmed Overbrook, 7-0. Suzie Clark and Teneya Clark scored twice each and Ali LaMaina, Catalina Thomas and Colleen Tritt also found the back of the cage.

Earlier in the week, Haddon Township defeated Haddonfield 4-0,
thanks to a pair of goals by Kim Flacco. Her first goal set a new Hawks’ scoring record.

BOYS’ SOCCER

The boys’ soccer team had its first losing week of the season, dropping two-of-three contests.

The week began with a 3-2 loss to Haddon Township in a game that saw the Bulldawgs fall behind 2-0 in the first half. Elizo Dunn, Mario Mandescu and Bah Moo scored for the Hawks, while Sam Ottenberg and Brendan Werner had the Bulldawgs’ goals.

Haddonfield responded with a dominating 8-0 win against Overbrook, fueled by a hat trick from Luke Pease. Matt Fell had a pair of goals, while Collin Setzer, Wyatt Dugan and Kohle Ferenchak also scored. On Friday, Haddonfield lost its South Jersey Coaches Cup first-round game to Moorestown, 4-2.

With the playoffs on the horizon, the Bulldawgs figure to get healty this week with games against Woodbury, Collingswood and Paul VI.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

The girls’ soccer team took a major step closer to defending its Colonial Conference title, but also saw its eight-plus season winning streak at Scout Field come to an end.

Haddonfield went 2-0 in conference play, with 4-0 wins over Haddon Township and Overbrook. Abby Vecchiolli, Grace Bassare and Kaitlin Hammon each scored their first varsity goal against the Hawks. Hammon scored again against Overbrook, as did Olivia Blaber, Emily Carson and Abby Czerniecki. Taylor Sehdev recorded both shutouts.

The only disappointing event of the week was a 1-0 loss to Cherry Hill East in the opening round of the South Jersey Coaches Cup. The Bulldawgs were 86-0-1 at Scout Field, but saw that streak end when East scored with 3:14 left in regulation. The loss was also the first of the season for Haddonfield (12-1-1).

The Bulldawgs will look to wrap up the conference championship this week with wins over Woodbury and Paulsboro.