Undefeated: Hopatcong's Raging Storm Slams Fall Competition

Sometimes, in the beginning, Dana Hughes couldn't help herself. It would be an errant pass, a missed defensive assignment. Anything.

"Ladies," Hughes would say, "you're killing me."

Now it's more like "ladies, you're the best."

The U-14 Raging Storm of the Hopatcong Hawks youth soccer program went undefeated this fall, finishing 9-0-1. The squad's success followed several down years.

Sami Moynihan was the Raging Storm's leading scorer. The club's goalie, Cate Pisano, had a solid season.

It was Hughes' first season coaching the team. She didn't know what to expect.

"I had confidence in the girls and their abilities and their talents," she said. "But me being new and not knowing the girls, I just went in there and saw which style fit each position."

Hughes couldn't pick one player as the team's most valuable—"I'd have to say all of them," she said—but she could name the squad's most memorable moment.

That came against Wharton, when both team was tied for first place in Flight Six of the Morris County Youth Soccer Association. Hopatcong had dropped Wharton earlier in the season. But Hughes didn't want the girls to come out too confident.

"I told them, 'Go out and play like we've never played them before,'" she said. "'Don't get cocky.'"

The Raging Storm must have got the message, taking an early lead to defeat Wharton, 4-3.

"We had the win the whole time," Hughe said. "We just clinched it. The girls were ecstatic."

More than anything, Hughes said, she was proudest of how the girls functioned as a unit.

"They worked together," she said. "They really formed as a team this season. They worked together. It's just amazing.

"And I'm very proud and very honored to be their coach."

Roster

Pamela Arias #5

Ariana Ferraro #21

Emily Grant #7

Anna Koepfler #6

Samantha Moynihan #8

Barbara Ortiz #41

Gillian Pellinger #20

Catelyn Pisano #93

Meghan Rennie #11

Stephanie Rodriguez #10 

Rebecca Scanlon #19

Stephanie Talmadge #9

Melanie Vasconcellos #13