Patriots lose in sectional semifinal

After a pair of dramatic victories in state tournament play, the 13th-seeded Lenape Valley Regional High School boys soccer team reached the semifinal round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North Jersey, Section 1, Group 1 tournament, where it bowed to top-seeded Emerson Boro, 3-0, there Nov. 12.

Lenape Valley, which concluded its season at 11-8-1, had defeated fourth-seeded Pequannock, 2-1 (4-3 penalty kicks), in a first-round game Nov. 5 and 12th-seeded Cresskill, 2-1, in overtime Nov. 8.

Junior goalie Oliver Boguski was stellar in net in the post-season, making a career-high 21 saves against Pequannock and halting 18 shots against Cresskill.

Alfredo Lopez had both goals against Cresskill, including the game-winner off a feed from Jacob Rodriguez in the 89th minute.

Lenape Valley was steered offensively by Jakob Velasco (16 goals, four assists), Johan Zizajkovski (six goals, four assists), Nelson Zuniga (six goals, three assists), Matt Grochulski (one goal, 11 assists), Liam Ableson (two goals, four assists), Lopez (four goals), Rodriguez (two goals, four assists), Brailin Peralta (three goals), Raymond Fromme (two goals), Christian Pak (one goal, two assists), Tyler Ruppert (two assists), Liam Shortino (one goal), Boguski (one assist) and Rudolfo Morales (one assist).

Here’s how other Lenape Valley teams have fared recently:

Girls soccer

Lenape Valley, seeded 11th, battled but eventually bowed to sixth-seeded Indian Hills in a game decided by penalty kicks in the opening round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 1 tournament there Nov. 4.

Indian Hills, which bowed to Kittatinny in the finals, won the shootout over Lenape Valley, 3-1.

Mayla McLean scored a second-half goal for the Patriots, who received nine saves from Riley O’Brien.

Lenape Valley finished the season with a 5-7-3 record. The team was led offensively by McLean (13 goals, six assists), Madelyn Schuddeboom (six goals, three assists), Danielle Botto (one goal), Sydney Alderson (one assist) and Krysstal Pineda Morales (one assist).

O’Brien recorded four shutouts for the Patriots this fall and averaged 8.5 saves per game.

Field hockey

The Patriots finished the 2024 campaign with a 5-14 mark.

Kaidyn Gomez led the team in scoring with eight goals and four assists, with Sara Spring (four goals), Bella Alonzo (two goals, three assists), Zoey De Oliveira (two goals, three assists), Abigail Norberg (two goals, one assist), Faith Catalano (two assists), Lauren Tracey (two assists) and Sadie Fagerlin (one assist) aiding the offense.

Girls tennis

Lenape Valley, seeded second, suffered a 5-0 loss to 10th-seeded Madison in the quarterfinal round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 at home Oct. 8.

Regina Williams (first singles), Bailey VanDyke (second singles), Kyle Gallagher (third singles), Paige Henriksen and Kendra Smith (first doubles), and Gianna Baron and Bella Hoffman (second doubles) all competed for Lenape Valley (8-4).

Cross country

Samantha Krauklis clocked a time of 22:45, good for 52nd place, to lead Lenape Valley at the NJSIAA Group 1 championships Nov. 9 at Holmdel Park.

On Nov. 17 at the Last Chance Championships in Clark, Krauklis ran a time of 21:58.90 to place 13th on the girls side and Wesley Faller was 35th in the boys race with a time of 19:09.08.