Tues. S.J. girls’ roundup: Pennsville triumphs in semifinal

Alex Smith has been the clutch scorer for the Pennsville girls' soccer team all season and she came through again with a big goal with two minutes to play on Tuesday night.

Smith's 33d goal of the season gave Pennsville a 3-1 lead late in the game and the Eagles held on for a 3-2 triumph over Point Pleasant Beach in the NJSIAA state Group 1 semifinals at Toms River South.

Chelsea Abhau and Sarah Nickle scord the first two goals for Pennsville, setting the stage for Smith, the area's leading scorer.

Point Pleasant Beach (13-4-3) got goals from Nicole Meyer and Morgan Sartori.

Pennsville (16-6) advances to the championship game against New Providence on Saturday at the College of New Jersey, looking for its first state crown since settling for a co-championship in 2002 after a tie with Glen Rock.

New Providence eliminated Belvidere, 3-0, in the other semifinal.

State Group 3. Hopewell Valley's tight defense gave the Bulldogs their fifth straight shutout in tournament play, beating South Jersey champion Timber Creek, 1-0, in double overtime in the state semifinals at Toms River North.

Leigh Appelstein scored the goal off a pass from Whitney Bickford with 6 minutes, 47 seconds left in the second extra period to put the Central Jersey champs (19-1-2) in the state final on Saturday.

Bulldogs goalie Elise Fengler survived several good chances by Timber Creek in the second half to make five saves in handing the Chargers (16-5-1) their first shutout of the season. Hopewell Valley shared the state title a year ago with Northern Highlands.

In the first extra period, The Chargers' Elise Pratt had a good scoring chance from six yards out stopped when Fengler deflected the ball with her hand.

Timber Creek goalie Kate DeCaro had two saves.