WASHINGTON TWP. -- On a team full of star players, one of Warren Hills' youngest and brightest assumed center stage on Tuesday afternoon.
Freshman forward Dani Profita connected for a pair of goals to help lead the Blue Streaks, ranked second in the Open Mike area, to an impressive 3-0 win over No. 1 Hunterdon Central in the 74th meeting between the Skyland Conference rivals on the turf at Warren Hills School District Stadium.
Warren Hills (12-3-1) is on a major roll having won nine in a row -- outscoring its opponents 33-1 -- since a 2-1 loss to state power Bridgewater at home on Sept. 21. Now 6-0 in October, the Streaks also won their seventh straight -- matching its longest win streak in the series of seven from 1974-77 -- against Hunterdon Central (13-3), which has split a pair of games with Bridgewater and was shut out for the first time this season.
"I think we're playing really well," said Profita, dubbed a star in the making since her days on the youth level. "We had really good passing today. Our passing sequences really worked."
Warren Hills holds a 36-28-10 advantage in the all-time series -- including a 19-6-5 mark at home -- dating to 1967. Central's last win was 1-0 at home on Oct. 25, 2007. Now in different divisions, the schools no longer play twice during the regular season since the Skyland Conference realignment in 2010, the only year the teams did not play at least once sans a stretch from 1984-89 when Central left the former Delaware River Conference for membership in the old Mid-State Conference.
Hunterdon Central had also been playing well of late as it was riding a five-game win streak since a tough 3-2 loss in overtime against Bridgewater on Oct. 3. But coach Jenn Sponzo's squad was catching a hot team at the wrong time, and down a player as talented center midfielder Ali Baligian missed the contest with a knee injury sustained in Saturday's 2-1 win over Sparta in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex quarterfinals.
The Red Devils were forced to shuffle their lineup, as senior Jane Higley moved to center-mid and did a fine job in Baligian's absence. But the Hunterdon County school was unable overcame a slow start, despite a stretch of about five minutes in the second half down 1-0, thanks to a goal by junior forward Sydney Muntone with 8:57 left. The Blue Streaks held a 9-1 edge on shots and an 8-2 advantage on corners in the first 30 minutes.
"This wasn't us. That's the unfortunate thing," said Sponzo, now 10-15-4 overall against Warren Hills in 15 seasons. "This isn't the team we saw all season, the one that's beaten Bridgewater and lost in overtime. We definitely didn't play our game."
Nursing a one-goal lead, Muntone and Profita took control of the game as they connected with 16:48 left to play to make it a 2-0 lead. Muntone made a perfect cross pass from the right side to Profita, who buried the ball in the left corner of the cage. Just 1:43 later, Profita iced the victory with her 10th goal off the pads on the Blue Streaks' fourth penalty corner of the half.
"We've been practicing a lot on our baseline passes to strokes. Syd hit a great ball to me and I saw a wide-open cage," Profita said.
Muntone has scored seven of her team-leading 14 goals in the last nine games and has had at least one goal or an assist in all but two games -- 2-1 losses to Voorhees (Sept. 17) and Bridgewater.
Profita came close to having a three- or four-goal day as several of her seven shots just missed wide or squarely hit Central goalie Hannah Cechini's pads. Cechini played well in recording a season-high 17 saves.
"I was just a little off on my aim," said Profita, who also has five assists this season and combined with sister, Nikki, a junior midfielder, for 14 shots-on-goal in the victory.
Not to be outdone was the stout Warren Hills defense, led by junior back Amanda Crampton, which held Central to just four shots and four corners. Crampton also had a defensive save in the second half as Central threatened on two corners in the final three minutes. Sophomore goalie Taylor Austin, who has really improved since the start of the year, made five saves and now has 8 1/2 shutouts.
Central missed a golden opportunity to avoid the shutout with six minutes left as junior forward Kendall Nickel sent a penalty stroke wide left of the cage.
Hunterdon Central (13-3) 0 0 -- 0
Warren Hills (12-3-1) 1 2 -- 3
Scoring
First half -- WH, Sydney Muntone, 14th, 8:57.
Second half -- WH, Dani Profita, 9th, (Muntone), 16:48; WH, D. Profita, 10th, 15:05.
Shots -- Hunterdon Central 4; Warren Hills 20.
Saves -- Hannah Cechini 17 (HC); Taylor Austin 3, Amanda Crampton 1 (defensive) (WH).
Penalty corners -- Hunterdon Central 4; Warren Hills 15.
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