Mercer 33 Girls Soccer Coach of the Year Christie “Fish” Fink is flanked by her underclassmen honorees, as freshman Gia Girman (left) and junior Ivonne Vasquez (right) were both placed on the team. Submitted Photo
By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
Nov. 15: Hamilton Township was well received at Monday night’s Hibernian Mercer 33 Girls Soccer Awards dinner, as eight athletes from five schools were placed on the team.
The night’s major award went to Nottingham second-year coach Christie “Fish” Fink, who took home the Coach of the Year Award as selected by the Mercer coaches.
Inheriting a team that won just two games in 2015, Fink guided the Stars to six victories last season and produced the program’s first winning record in over a decade as Nottingham went 9-8 this year. Included was a first-round Mercer County Tournament victory at Princeton, and several wins over teams the Northstars had not beaten in years.
And she did it all with a roster that included just four seniors.
“It’s an honor to get the award,” said Fink, whose father Joe was the Mercer boys’ coaches COY last year. “But all the credit goes to the girls. They bought into what we told them and carried it out on the field. And my assistants were also a big part of it.”
Hamilton West’s Lauren Korpics had a stellar offensive season in earning Mercer 33 girls soccer honors Monday night.
The township players who were honored included Steinert’s Gia “G” Pittaro, Lynzie “Lou” Morgan and Michaela Miranda; Nottingham’s Gia Girman and Ivonne Vasquez; Hamilton West’s Lauren Korpics, Pennington’s Gianna Lucchesi and Notre Dame’s Julia Rossi.
Pittaro should be a frontrunner for CVC Player of the Year after her outstanding senior campaign that included 19 goals and 13 assists. The Yale-bound senior played both ends of the field, as she was often found in the back helping to defend.
The relentless Morgan was the generator that kept the Spartans moving; all the way to the Mercer County Tournament title. Aside from her 8 goals and 5 assists, the Rowan-bound senior did a lot of the grunt work in winning headballs and loose balls.
Miranda came up with six goals and five assists, and the senior saved some of her best work for the biggest games. She had an assist in the MCT title win
A trio of Steinert seniors were all smiles after being named to the Mercer 33 girls soccer team this past Monday, as (from left) Michaela Miranda, Linzy “Lou” Morgan and Giana “G” Pittaro received honors for the MCT champions.
over Allentown, and scored goals in state tournament victories over Westhampton Tech and Lawrence.
Perhaps the biggest individual story in Mercer County this year was the way Girman exploded on the scene. The freshman tallied 14 goals and 4 assists to finish among the CVC leaders. She had hat tricks against Ewing and Hightstown and scored two goals against West Windsor-Plainsboro North and Robbinsville.
While Vasquez’s goal total dropped this year (partly due to Girman’s emergence), her all-around game improved. The junior had 4 goals and 5 assists, while also defending well and helping to spark the Northstars offense.
Although it was a tough year for the Hornets, Korpics was certainly a standout. The junior was the driving force behind Hamilton’s offense, collecting 8 goals and 5 assists. She had 2-goal games against Pennsauken and Willingboro.
Gianna Lucchesi is joined by Pennington coach Patrick Murphy after the Hamilton Square resident was honored with a berth on the Mercer 33 team Monday night.
Pennington continued to be one of the state’s top teams by going 14-1-2 and winning the NJISAA Prep A championship in a 3-0 win over Hun. Lucchesi played a big part, as the junior scored 5 goals and was solid at both ends of the field.
Despite having a young team, Notre Dame forged a 12-5-1 record with Rossi helping lead the way. The senior provided leadership while also tallying 6 goals and 4 assists.
