Isabella Hewitt absolutely blew up the Passaic County quarterfinals on Saturday, scoring a hat trick as No. 8 seed Hawthorne somehow downed No. 1 Lakeland 3-0. Seriously, a hat trick against the top seed? That’s wild. She also cranked out 10 goals across three Hawthorne wins last week, pushing her season total to a mind-blowing 40 and setting a new program record for goals in a single season. The girl is on fire, and now it’s time to weigh in on who rocked the high school soccer scene the hardest.
Offensive Firepower Was Everywhere
Hewitt wasn’t the only one lighting up the scoreboard, though. Over in the Bergen County tournament, Kyle Braithwaite, a Bergen Catholic senior forward, absolutely took over a huge game between two of the state’s top non-public teams. He dropped three goals and an assist in their 5-3 victory against Christian Brothers. Wild stuff. Mathieu Brun, a Demarest senior, also had a massive week, chipping in three goals and three assists as the Norsemen won all three of their matches, including their Bergen County tournament opener against Becton. Then there’s Michael DaSilva, a Lakeland senior, who basically ran his team’s offense, scoring six goals and four assists. He led the Lancers to three wins and a spot in the Passaic County semifinals, even grabbing a hat trick in their 5-3 quarterfinal win over Kennedy. And don’t forget Bella Ricca, a DePaul senior and a Manhattan commit, who fueled her team’s offense with a season-high three goals against River Dell, then followed that up with two more against Eastern Christian to snag DePaul’s fifth win in six games. These offensive machines were absolutely cooking last week.
Brick Walls in Goal
But let’s be real, you can’t win without some serious defense, and the goalies were putting on clinics. Brayden Blanken, Emerson’s senior goalie, was a total beast, stopping 21 out of 23 shots to power his Cavos team to three more wins. He had nine huge saves in their 2-1 victory over Fair Lawn to kick off the Bergen County tournament. Talk about clutch. Lila Cahalan, a Glen Rock sophomore goalie, pitched a shutout against Indian Hills in their Bergen County first-round match and guided her Panthers to a perfect 3-0 week. She made 14 saves and only let in one goal all week. Unbelievable. And Olivia Keenan, a Wayne Hills senior, snagged two more shutouts herself. One against Passaic Valley in the regular season, and another in a nail-biting 1-0 win against Clifton in the Passaic County quarterfinals. She even stacked up 10 saves in a tough 3-2 win against then-unbeaten Lakeland. Seriously, these keepers were brick walls.
This past week was just insane with all the incredible plays. Now it’s up to you, the fans, to decide who gets the HSS Soccer Player of the Week crown for Oct. 5-12. Voting wraps up Thursday at 5 p.m., so get in there and make your pick! Every vote counts for these players who absolutely dominated.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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