Nikki Schott possesses the talent of a player far beyond her years, making it easy to forget she's only a sophomore.
The midfielder came through like a grizzled veteran on Saturday, notching the winning goal to give Warren Hills a 1-0 victory over rival Voorhees in a Skyland Conference Raritan Division field hockey clash on the turf in Washington.
Warren Hills (9-0 overall, 6-0 division), ranked No. 1 in the Open Mike tri-country area, matched the 2008 team for the best starts in program history. Schott's goal, off a penalty corner with 23:38 left in the first half, ended a three-game losing streak in the series and gave the Blue Streaks their first shutout win over the Vikings since 1981 (1-0).
"It feels amazing," said Schott, who has three goals on the season with her first career goal against Voorhees. "Especially since [Voorhees won all three meetings] last year."
Coach Laurie Kerr, a senior on the 1986 team that started 8-0, recorded her fifth win in 23 meetings against Voorhees, which leads 27-15-6 in the overall series dating to 1975.
"This is a step in the right direction for us, mentally," said Kerr, now 5-15-3 against Voorhees in 12 seasons. "They've been our Achilles' heel."
No. 3 Voorhees (4-2, 3-2) is now 110-6-7 against Hunterdon-Warren teams since 2000. First-year coach Taylor Webb was impressed with the Blue Streaks and disappointed with her own team's sluggish start.
"[Warren Hills] plays very well together and they're a great passing team," said Webb, a former standout midfielder for the Vikings. "They had a good goalkeeper and fast little backs. I think it was a great matchup today and we expected no less."
Warren Hills completely dominated the first 30 minutes of the game, yet only had one goal to show for it at the half, as the Streaks outshout the Vikings 9-0 and held an 8-1 edge on penalty corners. Junior midfielder Niki Miller took three strong shots in the circle, but each one found the pads of outstanding Voorhees goalie Kimmie Pianucci, who single-handily kept her team in the game.
"She was absolutely unbelievable," Webb said of her keeper.
Kerr agreed and watched her team play a much different and evenly-played second half. The Streaks had a golden chance to go up two or three goals before the break and instead found themselves in a battle for the final 30 minutes.
"I thought Nikki Schott played the game of her life and in the second half we didn't get her involved [in the offense]," Kerr said. "We tried to push everything up the left side [instead of passing to the right where Schott was on the field]. A couple [of shots] could've dropped there [in the first half]."
Schott picked up her own rebound during the first corner of the game and was able to sneak it past Pianucci for the lone goal.
Voorhees appeared to tie the game with 18:10 left in the half, but the goal was waived off after the officials ruled the ball went off an offensive player's foot before going in.
Hoping to give her team a spark, Webb trotted out a completely new lineup for the second half. After a listless first 30 minutes, Voorhees got on the attack and made a game of it.
"We just weren't consistent and it was very hard to get the flow going," Webb said. "[Trying a different lineup] isn't ideal down 1-0 to Warren Hills. We came out more aggressive and played with nothing to lose. It's hard to play when you're afraid to make a mistake."
Voorhees managed only two shots on goal, both in the second half, and had a 5-3 edge on corners in the final 30 minutes after yielding eight corners to Warren Hills in the first half.
"[Voorhees] was a lot more offensive [in the second half]," said Schott, whose older sister Lindsey recently became the school's all-time goals leader.
The teams will do it all over again on Thursday at Voorhees. A potential third meeting could come in a few weeks in the third annual Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament.
Voorhees (4-2, 3-2) 0 0 -- 0
Warren Hills (9-0, 6-0) 1 0 -- 1
Scoring
First half -- WH, Nikki Schott, 3rd, 23:38.
Shots -- Voorhees 2; Warren Hills 14.
Saves -- Kimmie Pianucci 13 (V); Katie Wintersteen 2 (WH).
Penalty corners -- Voorhees 6; Warren Hills 11.
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