Kristen Dalton,
DigitalSports field hockey correspondent
A Week of
Untouchables and Upsets
The Untouchables
There
are five teams who still remain unbeaten in the Shore Conference after
getting week one of the 2008 season underway. Each of them has a zero
in the loss column of their overall record. The cream of the crop thus
far is Shore, Holmdel, Wall, Jackson Liberty and Rumson-Fair Haven.
The Upsets
There’s nothing like putting a little dent in my pre-season top 10.
That’s what I like to see! Toms River East, Jackson Liberty, Middletown
South, Raritan and Wall all contributed to the damage done in Upset
City this past week.
Toms
River East took down No. 4 Southern on Friday afternoon with a 3-2 victory
in overtime. Southern struck first when Angela Ciardelli found the back
of the net at 17:11, but nearly five minutes later, Toms River East’s
Rebecca Tamarana answered to tie the game at one. The game was tied
at two at the end of regulation but Tamarana found herself on a breakaway
with 2:54 left in extra minutes, scoring the game-winning goal.
A newcomer
to the Class B South division, Jackson Liberty made a statement with
a 3-2 overtime win over No. 6 and two-time defending division champs
Central Regional.
“It
was a very important win for us,” said Jackson Liberty head coach
Lori Burns. “We were down two goals at the half and were able to come
back and score two goals within the last ten minutes to tie it up. We
won with one minute left in overtime.”
Central
saw its 26-game Class B South winning streak come to an abrupt end when
Tori Nuccio scored in extra minutes off of a pass from Jillian Anzalone.
“We’ve
been doing very well defensively so far; we’ve had three shut-outs.
The first time we were scored upon was against Central,” said Burns.
“We just have to keep it going and have a strong week.”
Central’s
Jessica Fritz had two goals on the game and goalie Katelyn Pepper tallied
17 saves.
Middletown
South seized an opportunity to make some noise in the division when
it upset No. 7 Middletown North in a Class A North battle on Thursday.
The Lions had plenty of opportunities to put away Middletown South,
including 20 penalty corners to South’s zero, but the Eagles were relentless
and they made sure to cash in on their most important scoring opportunity.
Junior forward Allyson Segovia scored in the 47th minute
to give South the edge while their defense was able to hold off North’s
urgent offense in the final minutes.
“Defense
won this game for us,” head coach Sarah Boyce said after the game.
Eagles goalie Katelyn Johnson had 15 saves on the afternoon.
Raritan
put away previously unbeaten Red Bank Catholic 2-0 in a Class A Central
game. Francesca Maglione scored both goals for the Rockets, the first
at 24:47 and the second at 50:41 off of a penalty corner to seal the
deal. Raritan goalie Genevieve Paulin recorded six goals in the win
over the Caseys.
Wall
is showing some muscle early when it knocked off No. 2 Freehold with
a 1-0 overtime victory during the opening weekend. Wall continued its
winning streak during the week when it easily defeated Ocean 5-0. Wall
has the upper hand as it has a victory against the two teams who will
give it the most competition for the division title.
“We
always look forward to playing them both, but we need to be on top of
our game,” said Wall head coach Nancy Gross. “These victories have
set the tone for the future and we’re really excited at how well we
can play. There’s still always room for improvement in terms of defense,
perfecting passes and scoring. We have a lot of shots that go just wide
of the goal.
“Every
game is a challenge and every game is an adventure but you always look
to improve with each one,” said Gross.
Don’t Miss This
No.
1 Shore Regional vs. No. 5 Rumson-Fair Haven. Class B Central classic
rivalry. Two unbeaten teams. Four p.m. at Rumson-Fair Haven turf. Wednesday.
BE THERE!
This
match-up is promising to be the spotlight game of the week as these
two undefeated teams go head-to-head, toe-to-toe, stick-to-stick, you
get the idea, for bragging rights as division leader. If Rumson is able
to pull of this upset, they will have turned the Shore Conference upside
down. This season has already proven to be an ‘any team can win on
any given day’ type of year, and with the recent favor of the underdog
going around the divisions, anything is possible. But, Shore Regional
is Shore Regional and there’s no doubt they’ll be ready to defend
their No. 1 spot.
“Our
game doesn’t really change,” said Shore Regional head coach Nancy
Williams. “We just try to play traditional hockey. You never want
to make adjustments before you get out there. We just want to stay focused
on playing our game.”
Right
now, everyone is scoring for the Blue Devils, making it difficult for
teams to pin point their defenses on one particular person. Not to mention
Shore’s defense is pretty solid too and a driving force for its offense.
As
for Rumson, they have speed. And plenty of it. Not only will they be
playing in front of a home crowd, they’ll be playing on their home
turf. Literally. That type of playing surface will only make their quickness
that much quicker, Williams said. “They have that advantage right
off the bat. Hopefully we’ll be able to overcome that and see what
happens,” she said.
These
two schools are rivals in just about every sport. All the more reason
to come out Wednesday and show some support for some first-class Shore
Conference field hockey action.
Top 10
1) SHORE: will remain
No.1 until someone can knock them off. I have no reason not to keep
them here.
2) HOLMDEL: solid performances
every game have shown why they won a state sectional last year.
3) WALL:
key victories over division rivals Freehold and Ocean as they remain
undefeated.
4) JACKSON LIBERTY:
is the team to keep an eye on. They are making a lot of noise in their
new division with the recent defeat of defending champion Central.
5) RUMSON: undefeated
in B Central and will have the opportunity to prove themselves as they
hope to take down rival Shore Regional on Wednesday.
6)
CENTRAL: still remain a competitor despite the close loss to newcomer
Jackson Liberty. They will look to redeem themselves as top dog of the
division later on in the season when they face Jackson for a second
time.
7) RARITAN: surprising
2-0 upset over Red Bank Catholic puts them right behind Holmdel in the
Class A Central race
8)
FREEHOLD: knocked off early by Wall in an overtime thriller, but
will make some adjustments as they prepare for the week ahead.
9) OCEAN:
has the unfortunate luck of having both Wall and Freehold in the B North
division, but will look to turn around some close losses early on.
10)
TOMS RIVER SOUTH: current leader in Class A South
Stat Leaders
Scoring: Sam Citron
of Jackson Liberty leads the Shore Conference with eight goals while
Jess Fritz of Central has seven. Allegra Mango and Aileen Johnson of
Shore and Catherine Bitterly of Rumson-Fair Haven round out the top
three spot with six goals a piece.
Assists:
Shore’s Allegra Mango and teammate Brenna Rescigno are currently tied
in leading the league with five assists a piece. Caroline Packowski
of Jackson Liberty and Kristen Davila of Holmdel each have four.
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