ALLENTOWN — A week ago, the Allentown High and Hamilton High West varsity boys’ soccer teams were still battling for the last spots in their respective brackets of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament. Monday (two days after the NJSIAA Tournament qualification deadline), one team was trying to stay sharp on Senior Night ahead of next week’s state tourney, while the other was winding down their season. Such is the wacky new world of soccer in 2024 where shootouts (to the NJSIAA) supposedly no longer count as ties (because of power points), and the week in between the state tournament and the qualification deadline is basically a training session for many teams. At least, that new reality did not make the Redbirds and Hornets play any less fiercely as both tried to play for a win Monday. Unfortunately, a penalty kick became the difference as Allentown pulled out a 2-1 win. It was a tough pill to swallow for head coach Simon Lapointe’s Hamilton West club, which felt it had the better of the play. “That was our story all season. We’d lead in shots, but we couldn’t put the ball in the net,” Hornets’ 6-foot-6 senior midfielder Mark Gavrish said. “It was a tough season. We were missing two key players, so we just practiced as hard as we could and worked through it.” Much was the same yesterday when Gavrish’s goal off a pass from classmate Ayomide Talabi with 22:08 left in the second half sliced into the Redbirds’ lead. Yet, the equalizer never came. Gavrish had come close to putting the visitors on top 11:15 into the game when he slipped behind the defense, only to see A’town’s starting senior goalkeeper Nico Coppola make a foot save. Instead, head coach Justin Schmid’s tournament-bound Redbirds took the lead in the first half when senior striker Scott Jordan headed a 50/50 ball from junior James Guttridge in front of charging Hamilton West’s sophomore goalie Evan Hamilton. Jordan won the battle, driving home the winner for a 1-0 lead with 16:15 left ahead of intermission. Jordan then connected on his 17th goal of the year 14:35 into the second half after being tripped up on a breakaway, a foul that resulted in a penalty kick. The remaining 25 minutes saw plenty of action for Allentown’s defense and second-half senior ‘keeper J.P. Navroski. “A couple of their tall guys play on my travel team,” said Redbirds’ 5-foot-8 senior fullback Constantine “Tino” Bruno, who spent the whole game helping his team fend off the Hornets’ drives. “I was just trying to drop back, stay goal side on them and clear the ball.” While a shutout was not in the cards, despite 13 combined saves by Coppola and Navroski, it was just the work A’town’s needed ahead of next week’s Central Jersey Group II Tournament opener (presumably Tuesday at top-seeded Cinnaminson). “We practiced most of last week, then had Saturday off, which gave us our rest,” Bruno said. “That helped us come out hot today. We’re hoping we can do the same thing in states.” HamiltonW(5-14-1)               0   1    —    1 Allentown (7-12-1)                1   1    —    2 Goals: Gavrish (HW), Jordan 2 (A); Assists: Talabi (HW), Guttridge (A). Shots: 14 (HW), 10 (A); Saves: Hamilton 8 (HW), Coppola 7, Navroski 6 (A). WILLINGBORO 2, THRIVE CHARTER 1 WILLINGBORO — The Titans stayed even with the Chimeras in the first half before the home team pulled out the victory in this Burlington County Scholastic League Independence Division clash. ThriveCharter(9-7-1)            1   0    —    1 Willingboro (7-8)                   1   1    —    2 Goals: Carias (TC), Ramos-Argueta, [own goal] (W); Assist: Alvarez (TC), Tochukwu-Igah (W).