Field hockey: Warren Hills-P'burg halted by lightning

WASHINGTON TWP. -- Warren Hills' field hockey team was pouring it on against Phillipsburg in a Skyland Conference Raritan Division clash on Wednesday.

But with the Blue Streaks holding a commanding 2-0 lead, officials stopped play with the threat of lightning and thunder in the area with 13:45 remaining on the clock. After a brief delay, the game was called and play is scheduled to resume from the point of stoppage on Friday at 3:30 p.m.

It was the right move as heavy rains eventually hit the area. Ironically, had the game started at its normal time of 3:45 p.m., the contest would have been played in full. Originally, a soccer game was to precede field hockey on the Warren Hills Athletic Complex turf, making this a scheduled 6 p.m. start. The game actually got underway at 5.

Warren Hills (1-0-1 overall, 1-0 division), coming off a 3-3 tie with Shore Regional in its opener on Saturday and a 3-0 win over Delaware Valley on Tuesday, needed just 22 seconds to break through against Phillipsburg (0-1-1, 0-1-1), which opened with a 6-1 loss to Voorhees before a 0-0 tie with Somerville on Tuesday.

Freshman phenom Dani Profita got loose on a breakaway and tapped in her second goal of the season off a feed from here sister, Nikki Profita, for a quick 1-0 lead. Junior forward Sydney Muntone made it a two-goal advantage when she found the left corner wide open with 17:43 left on the clock. Muntone, who scored 19 goals in 2012, leads the Streaks with three this season.

Warren Hills is seeking its 11th straight win over P'burg in a series that began in 1973. The teams did not meet from 1975-94. The series resumed in '95 when the Stateliners joined the Skyland Conference.

Blue Streaks coach Laurie Kerr is 24-4 all-time against the 'Liners, whose last win was 3-2 on Warren Hills' old grass field on Oct. 30, 2007. Since that victory, P'burg has scored a total of four goals in the last 10 meetings entering Thursday's 42nd showdown. Warren Hills holds a 30-10-1 edge in the all-time series.

The Blue Streaks, who lost in the Group 3 final last season, have a rather ambitious early-season schedule. Besides playing Group 1 power Shore, Warren Hills will face Bishop Eustace, the 2012 Group 2 champion, on Saturday in an independent contest.

Following that game, the annual rivalry with Voorhees resumes on Sept. 17 in Hunterdon County. Four days later, perennial Group 4 finalist Bridgewater-Raritan comes to Washington on Sept. 21.

Here is Thursday's box score at the time play was stopped:

Phillipsburg (0-1-1, 0-1-1)            0                   --   0
Warren Hills (1-0-1, 1-0)              2                   --   2

Scoring

First half -- WH, Dani Profita, 2nd, (Nikki Profita), 29:38; WH, Sydney Muntone, 17:43.

Shots -- Phillipsburg 0; Warren Hills 4.

Saves -- Rachael Horun 2 (P); Taylor Austin 0 (WH).

Penalty corners -- Phillipsburg 0; Warren Hills 5.