It’s only fitting that the first edition of the Colonial Valley Conference Tournament comes down to a championship game between the league’s two best programs over the last decade. It’s top-seeded Hopewell Valley (15-2-2) against third-seeded Allentown (12-5-1) on Saturday afternoon at Ackerson Field. Kick off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and follows the boys final between Princeton High and Notre Dame. “It’s always such a big battle,” said HV coach John McGinley, who is the dean of CVC bosses. “They are such a good team. They are tough and physical, and we’ve obviously had a history of rivalry. I expect nothing less. I expect a hard-fought game against a really good opponent.” A large part of the success for both programs boils down to the coaching of McGinley and his counterpart Kim Maurer. They are the two active winningest coaches in the CVC and have combined for 478 victories (McGinley 320; Maurer 158). Allentown had reached six of the last eight finals in the now-defunct Mercer County Tournament. However, it went 0-6 in those games, with four of those losses to powerhouse Pennington. Even though the MCT has been replaced by the CVC Tournament, winning the final remains the one thing Maurer and the Redbirds have yet to check off. “I don’t expect anything different,” Maurer said. “We got to win one of them. It’s about time we win it this year. I got the group to do it. These kids are just fighting for everything.” Streaking Hopewell is on a 16-match unbeaten run and has not lost since a 5-0 setback at Hillsborough on Sept. 9. The Bulldogs are 14-0-2 since and have conceded just five goals during this incredible run of form. “There’s been a big transformation from the beginning of the season when we were really struggling in our scrimmages and first couple games,” McGinley said. “We’ve just kind of found a way to find our roles and accept our roles as players. I’m just really proud of how well they’ve come together as a team. That’s what has made us successful.” This unbeaten stretch includes a 2-0 victory over Allentown on Oct. 8 in which the Bulldogs scored with their only two attempts on target (credit Delainey Ross and Elizabeth Buchert with the goals) and shut down the Redbirds’ attack. Allentown has also got rolling since that setback against Hopewell. It has won six straight games, including a 2-1 semifinal victory over Notre Dame in which it halted the Irish’s 12-game winning streak. Scoring Hopewell’s top goal threat is sophomore Elizabeth Buchert, who ranks among the CVC leaders in points with 41. She’s one assist away from a double-double and enters play with 16 goals and nine assists. Buchert already has 32 career goals with games left to play this season. The program record of 88 belongs to the recently inducted Hall of Famer Katarina Nilsson. There’s a lot that has to go right between now and her senior season in 2026 but that’s not totally out of the question. On the other side, there’s not a more in-form striker in the CVC than Allentown’s Martha Olorunnisola. The senior scored both goals in the semifinal victory over Notre Dame to give her 12 on the season. In the CVC Tournament, she has five goals in three matches. Expect a lot of the defensive coverages to roll toward Olorunnisola. The Bulldogs have the best back four in the CVC, with Katherine Reinhart and Clara Burton in the center and Charlotte Barnes and Gianna Azara as outside backs. Fresh Faces The game may turn on a pair of freshmen facing off against each other. Allentown defender Chelsea Faulkner and Hopewell winger Meg Kurian are likely to see plenty of each other. Faulkner slid into the center of a back three this week to cover for injured senior Lauren Fanning, who is expected to be back for Saturday’s final, but she’s been solid all season for a side that has had plenty of lineup changes. “I worked hard over the summer and did the best I could to try and help the team,” Faulkner said. “I love playing here. It’s so much fun.” Maurer said she was impressed with Faulkner from day one, but didn’t realize how valuable she would be until the injuries started piling up. “She’s actually a true center back and I kind of made her an outside back, so I knew that she was Lauren’s replacement (eventually). The girl’s got nerves of steel. She wins every ball and I just trust her back there.” Kurian, meanwhile, is already showing she has what it takes to perform under the lights. She’s up to six goals on the season after scoring twice in the 3-0 semifinal victory over West Windsor South. She also notched the overtime winner against Robbinsville that clinched Hopewell the outright CVC Colonial crown. “You work with a kid and you see the potential, but you just never know, especially with younger players,” McGinley said. “It’s a different stage, different team, but little by little she’s grown and accepted her role. Now we’re at where she expects it. I think before she didn’t expect it, but we did it and now she does and she wants it.”