PENNINGTON — The Pennington School varsity boys’ soccer team wanted this, not only because it had a chance to three-peat, but also because people had doubted them this season.
So despite a solid challenge from the second-seeded Lawrenceville School, the top-seeded Red Hawks used this opportunity to show that they are back to playing at the level people in Mercer County have come to expect Wednesday at Tom Liwosz Field in the New Jersey Independent Schools Athletic Association Prep A Tournament final.
Pennington (12-3-1) opened a four-goal edge in the first 47 minutes, then held off the Big Red, 5-2, to claim their third consecutive Prep A crown.
It was the 10th win in the last 11 games for 16th-year head coach Chad Bridges’ team.
“Lawrenceville came in with a much better mentality this year,” Red Hawks senior goalkeeper Colin Harkleroad said. “They felt they had a chance, so, after playing them the first time (a 2-1, regular-season Pennington win Oct. 13 on the same field) we knew we had to score first.”
Red Hawks newcomer Alexandre Ben Amou took care of that midway through the first half when he headed a cross from freshman Cooper Laquidara-Kolvek past Big Red junior goalkeeper George Cavanna.
The junior forward from Paris, France had another strong chance when he drew Cavanna off his goal line nine minutes later, only to see the ball skip inches wide of the net.
“That first goal initiates what comes after,” Ben Amou said. “My goal got it going for us. I did get a second, but I should have had a third.”
That hunger helped the home team expand its lead after junior Matthew Addai danced his way to an assist for sophomore Kelvin Kwarteng with 5:25 left in the first half. Ben Amou made it 3-0 when he finished a shot junior Gus Shapiro sent off Cavanna 1:05 after intermission.
Addai converted a penalty kick 6:20 later to increase the lead, but L’ville senior Mohamed Mohamed kicked in a shot by sophomore Chris Yang in the next five minutes to make things a little more interesting.
“We didn’t give up,” Mohamed said. “We looked at the clock and realized we’ve still got time.”
In their first season under head coach John Dineen, the Big Red (11-9) began to attack more frequently. Had it not been for 19 saves by Harkleroad, the visitors may have drawn closer.
Instead, Pennington sophomore Sandro Cunningham knocked in another pass from Addai with 17:37 left to extend the lead to 5-1.
Playing as well as it has in more than a decade, Lawrenceville kept coming. But Harkleroad made consecutive tough saves on drives by Mohamed and classmate Ayodele Joa-Griffith over the next 15 minutes to keep it from scoring again until Mohamed converted a pass from junior Toler Wreaks with 1:42 to go.
“We grew a lot this season,” Mohamed said after connecting on his team-leading ninth goal. “I’m proud of the way we played, and I hope the coaches and boys can continue playing well in the future.”
“We graduated a big class last season, so we had a lot younger team this year,” Harkleroad said. “We employed a next-man-up philosophy. It really helped us.”
“After a slow start this season (2-3), we clicked as a team,” Ben Amou said.
With one Mid-Atlantic Prep League game left for both teams Saturday, both the Red Hawks and Big Red hope to finish the campaign just as strong.
Lawrenceville (11-9) 0 2 — 2
Pennington (12-3-1) 2 3 — 5
Goals: Mohamed 2 (L), Ben Amou 2, Kwarteng, Addai, Cunningham (P); Assists: Yang, Wreaks (L), Laquidara-Kolvek, Addai 2, Shapiro (P).
Shots: 21 (L), 19 (P); Saves: Cavanna 12 (L), Harkleroad 19 (P).
