By Andy Loigu

As Ringo Starr sang, “you know it don’t come easy.”

After 100 grueling scoreless minutes of defensive soccer on the pitch, the third seeded Hackettstown Tigers won the North Jersey Section 2 Group 2 championship in a battle decided by penalty kicks on Thursday, November 11.

The Tigers advance to the state semifinals with a 16-4-3 record. The sectional trophy is one more honor earned in a season which has already yielded the championship of the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Freedom Division with a 8-0-2 record in divisional games.

Early in the section final against defending champion Bernards, the Tigers lost center back Nick Harrison and their second leading scorer, Cam Reardon, to injury for the rest of the game. In a test of the team’s resiliency, depth and perseverance, the Tigers carried on and earned praise from coach Matt DeMartini for raising the level of their game when facing adversity.

Goalie Nate Harrison, senior captain Zack Prymak and senior forward Chase Reardon contributed to the Tigers’ 2018 section championship and led the way this time setting an example of knowing how to win.

Prymak scored the golden goal in the shootout.

TIGER WINNING STREAK ENDS WITH CLOSE LOSS

The Tigers’ girls soccer team also had a banner season, going undefeated in divisional play at 10-0 and finishing with a 14-4 overall record under coach Tara McMinn.

Their season concluded with a 2-1 loss to Rutherford in the section quarterfinal. That loss brought an end to an eight-game win streak which included six shutouts. The Tigers only surrendered two goals during that winning span of games.

BLUE STREAKS IN TOURNAMENT PLAY

Down highway 57 at Warren Hills, the Blue Streaks’ field hockey team, coached by Josie Potter, finished with a 15-6-1 record.  Despite their tournament experience and tradition of winning big games, the Blue Streaks came to the end of the road with a 4-1 loss this time, in North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 semifinal play to the Rams of Randolph.

In the football playoffs, the Blue Streaks were up against a rock solid offensive line at Sparta and could not stop the Spartans from marching down the field time after time in a 62-33 loss. Sparta had an explosive passing game and struck on the ground, too. They ran counters and traps expertly and like Elvis, the Streaks found themselves “caught in a trap.”

Trying to stay close, the Blue Streaks had some big plays of their own.

Quarterback Luke Dugan launched a 75-yard touchdown pass to Justin Daniel and Lucas Fritton returned a kickoff for a touchdown. Against a tough schedule the Blue Streaks finished with a 6-4 record, their best in several seasons.

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Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.