September is certainly a month filled with transition. Students transition back to school, teachers transition back to work, summer transitions into fall, and finally athletes transition into their seasons. 

  Each fall sports team at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School has seen a great deal of success, to varying degrees. That success reflects all of the hard work and effort that each athlete and coach has put in during the offseason. With so much to keep track of everything going on in the world of student sports, here is the Raider Wrap-Up and early look at SPF’s fall sports for September:

Boys Soccer

Record: 5-2-1

Wins against:

(9/8) Cranford: 2-0

(9/10) Union City: 3-0

(9/15) Summit: 1-0

(9/22) Westfield: 1-0 (at Red Bulls Stadium)

(9/30) Summit: 2-1

Losses Against:

(9/13) Elizabeth: 1-2

(9/28) Elizabeth: 0-1

(9/30)

Tied against:

(9/20) Union: 1-1

(9/30)

  “Overall, we’ve been solid. I think we need to have a little bit more quality in the attacking third and need to be tuned in for a full 80 minutes as opposed to putting in a good effort for 60 minutes,” head varsity boys soccer coach Alex Passucci said. Our expectations have not changed. Our goal is to compete and put ourselves in a position to win championships.” 

Girls Soccer

Record: 4-1-4

Wins against: 

(9/8) Governor Livingston: 1-0

(9/15) Summit: 1-0

(9/22): New Providence: 2-1

(9/24) Montgomery: 4-0

Losses against: 

(9/17) Morris Knolls: 0-1

Tied against:

(9/10) Mount Olive: 0-0

(9/13) Cranford: 2-2

(9/20) Westfield: 0-0

(9/28) Cranford: 0-0

  “We’ve played very hard thus far during games and practices,” assistant girls varsity coach Matthew Tiedemann said. “All our games have been close contests so far and the girls on the team have played intensely and with a desire to win. We continue to strive to be competitive in the county and upcoming state tournaments and compete for a championship.”

Football

Record: 1-5

Wins against:

(8/26) North Plainfield: 38-16

Losses against: 

(9/2) Colonia: 24-34

(9/9) St. Thomas Aquinas: 0-43

(9/16) Rahway: 7-27

(9/24) Westfield: 0-30

(9/30): Summit: 7-22

  “We’ve been inconsistent, mainly from our younger players that didn’t have a lot of experience coming in, but they’re slowly getting better and so are we [as a team],” head varsity football coach Austin Holman said. “I think this team is still a playoff caliber team. We have to keep showing up and improve on the little things to help us win some of these games and get us back into the playoff hunt.” 

Girls Volleyball

Record: 6-5

Wins against:

(9/9) Elizabeth: 2-0

(9/14) Union Catholic: 2-1

(9/15) New Providence: 2-0

(9/21) Kent Place: 2-0

(9/28) Governor Livingston: 2-1

(9/29) Linden: 2-0

Losses against: 

(9/8) Westfield: 1-2

(9/12) Governor Livingston: 0-2

(9/19) Elizabeth: 0-2

(9/20) Summit: 0-2

(9/22) Westfield: 1-2

  “We continue to push ourselves to be the best team we can be,” head girls volleyball coach Adrienne Stack said. “We have tough competition, so we have to continue to push ourselves to achieve all of the goals we have set for one another, and ourselves.” 

Field Hockey

Record: 3-7

Wins against:

(9/8) Cranford: 2-0

(9/23) Koinonia: 10-0 

(9/29) Millburn: 4-2

Losses against: 

(9/10) Voorhees: 1-3

(9/12) Summit: 0-4

(9/15) Oak Knoll: 0-7

(9/17) Westfield: 1-5

(9/19) Montclair: 0-2

(9/21) Montclair Kimberley: 1-3

(9/27) West Essex: 0-6

  “So far, we have started off a little rocky, but things are finally starting to come together for us,” head girls field hockey coach Alexandra Neidig said. “We are a very young inexperienced team, so there is a lot to learn. We need to improve our communication on the field, which will help us work together.” 

Girls Tennis

Record: 5-4

Wins against: 

(9/7) Old Bridge: 3-1

(9/8) Cranford: 4-1

(9/9) Summit: 3-2

(9/12) New Providence: 3-2

(9/15) Bridgewater-Raritan: 3-2

Losses against

(9/14) Kent Place: 0-5

(9/16) Westfield: 1-4

(9/28) Summit: 2-3

(9/29) Westfield: 0-5

  “We are hoping that the high level of competition we have faced in the regular season will prepare the girls to defend their state championship title in the postseason,” head varsity girls tennis coach, Luke Piede said. “We have a chance to repeat, but the margin for error is very small starting with the sectional quarterfinal.” 

  It’s safe to say that Raider sports have been successful this month and will continue similar success into the following months of the fall season. Make sure to continue to support fellow athletes and classmates as they continue in their seasons. That’s for the Raider Wrap-Up and early look at SPF’s fall sports.