Huskies dominate New Castle, advance to play Delta

By RICH TORRES
ARCADIA – Hamilton Heights’ senior Elaina Page had two objectives entering her senior soccer season.
She checked off the first one more than a month ago. As for the second, Page and the Class 2A Huskies inched one step closer with a dominating 9-1 win over New Castle in the first round of Sectional 24.
Page finished with two assists and two goals, including an ankle-breaking shimmy for her 28th goal on the year, to lead the Huskies (12-6) into Thursday night’s sectional semifinal against Delta (6-8) at 7 p.m.
Junior Caitlin Hartwick had two goals for the Huskies as seven Hamilton Heights’ players recorded at least one goal on Tuesday at home.
Last season, Page racked up 14 goals in 19 matches. Focused on topping that total this fall, she surpassed it on Sept. 6 with a two-goal performance. Her multi-goal effort against New Castle marked her 10th this season.
“Everyone definitely felt it tonight. Everything just flowed together. It was awesome,” Page said. “I’m trying to create a lot. I want to win sectional really bad. That’s always been a goal of mine.”
The Huskies shared her ambition and peppered the Trojans (4-12) with 48 shots and 29 shots on goal overall. Hamilton Heights built a 3-1 lead by halftime and outscored New Castle 6-0 behind 25 shots in the final 40 minutes.
Makena Trew put the Huskies ahead 1-0 with her eighth goal, coming off an assist from Emma Hall in the 12th minute. Page made it 2-0 less than two minutes later before a Katy Beery goal in the 20th minute pushed the margin 3-0.
“This was a team we’ve never seen before, so we didn’t know what to expect,” Huskies head coach Travis Kauffman said. “In those situations, you play against yourself. You play your game, and I was proud how the offense kept creating. We talked all year about being creative and working for goals and opportunities. I think that showed.”
New Castle erased Hamilton Heights’ shutout bid with a goal in the 38th minute as Lauren Ayers snuck the ball past goalkeeper Alyssa Irwin, who had one save. Freshman Jenn Houser registered one save in relief for the Huskies.
Trojans’ keeper Olivia Carnes logged 17 saves and fended off a pair of hard shots from Page early on in the first half, while the crossbar deflected three more potential Huskies’ goals in the match.
“We’ve talked all year about winning the second half, and we had a 10-15 minute let down late in the second half where we took it easy,” Kauffman said. “We lost a lot of the aggressiveness, so at halftime that’s what we talked about, winning the second half regardless of the score or what the other team is doing.”
The Huskies went to work immediately with four goals through the first 13 minutes in the second half.
A tip save on a Beery shot on goal was cleaned up by Hall to push the Huskies’ lead to 4-1 in the 44th minute. Page connected with Emily Stirn for another goal and a 5-1 advantage, while Kyndall Ferguson’s seventh goal this season increased the lead 7-1 during the 53rd minute.
Page scored her second goal during the 50th minute with a devastating move down the left sideline, splitting two defenders before working past another Trojan and finally the goalkeeper to put Hamilton Heights up 6-1.
“She’s been a phenomenal scorer for us this year, and she’s humble,” Kauffman said. “She wants to get assists and play for the team, but we’re setup where she’s that target and makes stuff happen. If ever, they don’t let her make stuff happen, that’s when she picks up her assists.”
Page’s two assists gives her nine this year. Stirn added an assist for her seventh in 18 matches. Cacy Weaver and Jenna Peterson both had one assist with each going to Hartwick for the Huskies’ final two goals.
Hamilton Heights is chasing its first sectional title since 2014, 10th all-time and potential first in 2A. The Huskies won four straight sectional championships in Class A from 2011-14.
If the Huskies win one more game, they could get a rematch with defending sectional champion Yorktown, who beat Hamilton Heights 3-2 in the semifinals last year. Yorktown (9-6) faces Jay County (9-3-2) in the first semifinal on Thursday at 5 p.m.
The Huskies beat Yorktown 6-4 during the regular season, but once again face an unfamiliar foe in Delta, which lost three straight prior to the postseason.
“We’ve never played (Delta) either, and that’s why I’m glad we didn’t get the bye. When you do, you sit for too long,” Kauffman said. “You want to get some game speed and minutes under you. It helps, and a win like this boosts your confidence. Practice gets better because you can see what you’re capable of and you get to plan and say that’s what we want to do again.”