PENNINGTON — Sara Chrnelich found out a few hours before the Pennington School girls soccer team’s semifinal game in the NJISAA Prep A Tournament that she would be playing center back for the first time in her life. No biggie, right? Not for the Red Hawks junior who does it all for a side that is now on the cusp of a 17th Prep A championship. “Usually I’m a forward and I like to score,” Chrnelich said after a 2-0 victory over Blair on Wednesday sent Pennington back to the final. “Whatever the team needs, that’s where I’ll go.” When the Red Hawks had a couple of defenders go down with injuries that meant a different role for one of the team’s most versatile players. Hall of Fame co-coach Dr. Bill Hawkey knew it was something she could handle. “It’s that unselfish aspect where it isn’t about scoring goals or making assists, but doing what the team needs,” Hawkey said. “She’s done that for us since freshman year. It’s usually come in a marking role to offset somebody else.” That was exactly the assignment against a talented forward in Gianna Martic. Chrnelich paired with freshman Olivia Wang to keep Blair’s go-to player quiet. It wasn’t something that Chrnelich was intimidated by. After all, as Hawkey pointed out, she’s marked talented players before like Rutgers Prep’s Addison Halpern (Virginia commit), Chatham’s Riley Cross (Penn State commit), and, of course former Pennington teammate Morgan Kotch in practice. “It’s nothing new to me,” Chrnelich said with a laugh, “but I couldn’t do it without our midfield or any other player on the field.” The best piece of advise she got for playing center back? “I was told to just play my game, play confidently, play calm,” Chrnelich said. “The other center backs who were injured were just supporting me. They told me not to dribble because that’s one of the things I would do (playing) on the wing. Everyone was so helpful.” Pennington (11-2) won its 10th straight game and got the added bonus of hosting the Prep A final next week after Pingry upset Mount St. Dominic in the other semifinal. But the season didn’t start that way. The Red Hawks got off to a 1-2 start, and had a 36-match unbeaten run snapped when they lost the opener to Episcopal Academy. They lost again in their third game to Cherokee before this new streak carried them to an undefeated MAPL campaign and cusp of another prep title. “A lot of us on the team had never lost a game before,” Chrnelich said. “Losing a game was an awakening.” Chrnelich credited captains Meg Balerna, Arden Galvelis and Maya Raghanundanan for pulling the team together. “They were like, ‘we’re Pennington, we don’t lose,'” Chrnelich said. “Everyone just needed to step up the effort, step up the work and we’re all family here.” With the Mercer County Tournament no longer in play — a bummer Chrnelich admitted — that leaves the prep trophy. It’s the expectation at Pennington. “To win it,” Chrnelich said. Hawkey knows who he can count on. “She loves big games,” he said. “She’s so competitive, which is a gift to everybody here. That’s what drives her, that competitiveness. She hates to lose. She’s a good model to everybody else.”