Sparta girls’ soccer to play for the H/W/S championship

The Sparta High girls soccer team will once again play for the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament championship.

Alyssa Ciaburri scored off a feed from Kayla Barreau in the second half as second-seeded Sparta defeated sixth-seeded Hunterdon Central in the semifinal round of the 15th H/W/S Tournament on Saturday afternoon in Sparta.

The Lady Spartans advance to the tri-county final for the fourth straight year and will be seeking their second title in three seasons when they meet top-seeded Vernon on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Sparta High at 11 a.m.

A year ago, Sparta had its bid to repeat as H/W/S champs dashed as it bowed to Kittatinny after losing in penalty kicks (4-2).

The Lady Spartans had defeated Hunterdon Central, 2-1, to claim its first tri-county title in 2023, a year after losing to Hunterdon Central, 1-0, in the 2022 final.

On Saturday, Riley Molbury posted her fifth shutout of the season with a 10-save effort as Sparta ran its winning streak to four straight in improving to 9-7.

In its 2-1 overtime victory over seventh-seeded Phillipsburg on Wednesday, Oct. 15, Sparta prevailed when Adriana Dolinski scored her second goal of the game in the extra session. Molbury made three saves in the decision.

Dolinski now leads the team in scoring with eight goals and three assists followed by Makayla Brown (six goals, five assists) and Ciaburri (seven goals, two assists).

Girls volleyball

The top-seeded Lady Spartans had their bid for a third straight tri-county tournament championship come to an end as they fell to fourth-seeded Hackettstown, 25-19, 25-18, in the semifinal round of the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament on Saturday in Hackettstown.

Sparta had received a bye into the quarterfinal round and had defeated eighth-seeded Warren Hills, 25-18, 25-13, on Thursday afternoon at home.

The win was aided by Hannah Dodson (14 assists, six service points, three aces, three digs, one kill), Arielle Gomez (11 digs, eight kills, one service point, one ace), Brooke Meara (one kill, one block), Avery Munier (two digs, one block, one kill), Maeve Uitdenhowen (six kills), Grace Mathurin (three digs, two kills, two blocks, one assist, one service point, one ace), Alexia Hill (13 digs, 13 service points, two aces), Amelia Boohoff (five digs, three service points) and Victoria Sucich (seven service points, one dig, one ace).

Sparta (13-7) will play at Bergen Tech on Oct. 24 at 5:45 p.m.

Boys soccer

The seventh-seeded Spartans bowed to second-seeded Voorhees, 3-0, in the quarterfinal round of the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament on Tuesday, Oct. 14 in Glen Gardner.

Sparta had advanced to the quarterfinals with a 4-1 victory over 10th-seeded Warren Hills on Oct. 7 at home.

Matt Torres led the way with two goals for Sparta, which also received a goal from Jakub Targonski and Reynaldo Ballon. Jaison Caswell anchored the defense with four saves.

Sparta (5-7) will play at Lenape Valley on Friday at 4 p.m.

Field hockey

Junior goalie Kaitlyn Rodriguez made a career-high 22 saves but 15th-seeded Sparta dropped a 10-0 decision to third-seeded and No. 17 ranked North Hunterdon in the second round of the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 15 in Annandale.

The Lady Spartans (5-8) had defeated 14th-seeded Wallkill Valley, 2-0, in a H/W/S first round game on Oct. 11 in Sparta.

The game was scoreless until Caroline Weiss scored twice in the fourth quarter off assists from Leah Albers and Cassandra Ailara. Rodriguez halted nine shots to post her third straight shutout.

Sparta will play at Morristown on Thursday at 4 p.m.

Cross country

Celia Rossettini placed ninth in a time of 19:58.98 and Timothy Mudrick was 41st in a time of 17:45.74 to lead the Sparta girls and boys, respectively, at the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Championships on Oct. 14 at Greystone Park in Morris Plain

The Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Championships are slated for Thursday at Phillipsburg High.