‘Peanut’ comes up big for Hawks in semifinal

The nickname is a misnomer, but one that has stuck for years.

Haddon Township junior soccer forward Patrice Maro is known as "Peanut" to her friends and family.

Obviously, the moniker is usually meant for diminutive people. Maro isn't small, and everything about her game is oversize, including her ability to hit the back of the net.

In fact, maybe they should call her Peanut Crunch, for the way she performed in crunch time during the Hawks' biggest game of the season.

Maro deposited both goals as the fourth-seeded Hawks defeated top-seeded and defending-champion Clayton, 2-0, in Tuesday's South Jersey Group 1 semifinal.

Haddon Township (17-3-2) will host Pennsville in Thursday's sectional final.

"I'm really happy to be here," said Maro, who has 11 goals. "We've had to overcome a lot."

Not the least of which have been injuries.

Three players, the most recent being leading scorer Nicky Cutrera, have been lost with knee injuries. And Maro herself has plenty of assorted bumps and bruises.

"Peanut plays fearless," Haddon Township coach Jim Kay said. "She plays so hard, and this time of year, she is beaten up, but she just keeps coming at teams."

Maro is a player with special skills, including the ability to overpower a defender and then turn on the jets toward the goal.

That's how she scored her second goal of the game, beating one defender, cutting toward the middle of the field, and launching a rocket high inside the right post in the 65th minute to give the Hawks a needed cushion.

Her first goal in the first half was a tip-in on a scramble in front. Maro was in the right place at the right time, a knack that all accomplished finishers possess.

As for the nickname, she said that she was the youngest of four children and that her mother shares her first name. So at an early age, she was called "Peanut," and it stuck.

"Everybody calls me Peanut," she said, laughing.

She was also a marked player on this day, but was still able to roam freely for several dangerous runs.

"We knew we had to contain 22," Clayton coach Chris Baker said of Maro, referring to her uniform number. "I've known about her for years working at the Haddon Township camps, and she is one talented player."

So is Township goalie Katie Getzinger, who stopped several potential breakaways by getting off her line quickly.

"She has done that all year and was amazing today," Maro said.

The Hawks beat a 19-3 Clayton team led by dangerous sophomore Maxie New, South Jersey's scoring leader with 31 goals. New has good technical skill, and the ability to strike a ball hard with either foot. She had a few shots that just whizzed by the goal.

In fact, so did Maro, just missing the goal on a few hard shots.

The season has been long, but now is not the time to worry about aches and pains, which can be considerable. Haddon Township is in a sectional final for the second straight year, after losing to Haddonfield in last season's South Jersey Group 2 final.

This time, the Hawks hope to reverse the outcome, led by the player with a cool nickname and an even better game.

Haddon Township   1 1 – 2

Clayton   0 0 – 0

Goals: H-Patrice Maro 2.

Saves: HT-Katie Getzinger 12; C-Danni Cowgill 4.