Warren Hills' field hockey team got a little of everything in a dominating 8-1 win over Wallkill Valley on Thursday. A potent and relentless offense that produced 35 shots-on-goal, a stifling defense that yielded only six shots and a controversial goal.
Crunch the numbers anyway you like, but they all added up to a lopsided win for the top-seeded Blue Streaks in a Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament semifinal on the turf in Washington.
Warren Hills (16-1) advances to its third straight tri-county championship game and will face unbeaten High Point (15-0), the No. 1 seed in the Sussex draw, for the title on Saturday at Vernon Township High School. The time of the game is to be determined on Friday.
The Blue Streaks, who beat the Rangers, 4-1, in last year's quarterfinals, are still seeking the program's first title, won on the field. In the inaugural season of the tourney in 2009, both Warren Hills and Newton were declared co-champions after the final was never played due to scheduling conflicts. A year ago, Warren Hills lost, 1-0, to archrival Voorhees in the first HWS title game ever played at Hackettstown.
"To be going back to the finals and to be able to get a championship is very rewarding," said outstanding junior center midfielder Niki Miller, who scored a goal and assisted on two others in the win. "We have a more solid team this year and we're all working together."
Wallkill Valley (12-4), making its first-ever semifinals appearance, entered the game off a big 1-0 win over Voorhees in the quarterfinals on Saturday. But the Rangers, who rarely play on turf, were simply overwhelmed against a Warren Hills team that is deep, fast and highly-skilled. The Rangers had allowed a total of 12 goals in their previous 15 games.
Miller assisted senior forward Sarah Detrick on the game's first goal just 5:10 into the contest. That triggered an offensive explosion that saw six different Blue Streaks notch goals. Senior forward Emily Pietrangelo was the only player to score twice and her first goal capped the first-half scoring and gave the Streaks a commanding 4-0 lead.
In between, Warren Hills' all-time leading scorer Lindsey Schott and talented freshman Nikki Profita found the back of the cage. Profita, a midfielder, also recorded a pair of assists. Warren Hills managed 18 first-half shots, while Wallkill Valley finally put one on goal with 20 seconds left in the half.
"That was our goal, to play 60 minutes strong from the first whistle," said veteran coach Laurie Kerr, now 191-59-11 overall and 8-1 against Sussex County teams in 12 seasons. "We have a very complete team. We just have to play to our potential."
Senior forward Kayla Grater started the second-half scoring spree with 22:52 left to play before Miller struck for her 15th goal of the season -- a rocket shot that deflected off the stick of Wallkill Valley goalie Emily Stukenborg, who robbed Miller of at least four other goals in this one.
Down 6-0, Walkill Valley finally got on the board when Casey Pustelniak sent a shot from what appeared to be around the 25-yard line, well out of the circle. Warren Hills goalie Katie Wintersteen, thinking it wasn't a legal shot, just let it roll into the cage.
"Katie is a very intelligent girl and she wouldn't have just let it go in," Kerr said.
Kerr protested to the officials, but to no avail. Certainly it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but it was the first goal allowed in three tournament games by a stingy Warren Hills defense led by midfielder Whitney Kowski, along with backs senior backs Jamie Miller, Caitlin Clark and Jen Hylkema, and freshman Amanda Crampton.
"We came out really intense and we wanted to score right away," Kowski said. "It's so exciting to be back in the finals. We all want to win [the title] so badly."
Wallkill Valley (12-4) 0 1 -- 1
Warren Hills (16-1) 4 4 -- 8
Scoring
First half -- WH, Sarah Detrick, 2nd, (Niki Miller), 24:50; WH, Lindsey Schott, 21st, 21:09; WH, Nikki Profita, 3rd, 5:44; WH, Emily Pietrangelo, 4th, (Profita), 3:16.
Second half -- WH, Kayla Grater, 11th, (Schott), 22:52; WH, Miller, 15th, 20:55; WV, Casey Pustelniak, 6th, 14:45; WH, Pietrangelo, 5th, (Miller), 10:42; WH, Sydney Muntone, 7th, (Profita), 2:02.
Shots -- Wallkill Valley 6; Warren Hills 34.
Saves -- Emily Stukenborg 23, Katie Bencivenga 2, Kristina Garrera 1 (WV); Katie Wintersteen 5 (WH).
Penalty corners -- Wallkill Valley 4; Warren Hills 13.
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