It's been a long time since Hunterdon Central's field hockey team tasted a county championship -- 10 years to be exact.
But the Red Devils need just one more victory to reach the title game for the first time since 2007, as they host upstart Hackettstown at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday in the fifth annual Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex semifinals.
Longtime rivals Warren Hills and Voorhees will clash in the other semifinal at 2 p.m. in Lebanon Township. The winners will meet on Saturday, Oct. 26 for the championship, tentatively set to be played at Hackettstown High School.
It's been a tough tournament thus far, with both top seeds -- High Point and South Hunterdon -- being ousted in the quarterfinals. The H-W bracket was so stacked that Warren Hills earned a No. 4 seed.
"Adding Sussex with Hunterdon-Warren, there's so many strong competitors. Being one of the top four left says a lot," said veteran Central coach Jenn Sponzo, who led the Red Devils to a pair of Hunterdon-Warren titles in 1999 and 2003.
Hunterdon Central (14-3), the No. 3 seed in the H-W bracket, advanced with a tight 2-1 win over No. 2 seed Sparta in last weekend's quarterfinals to reach the HWS semifinals for the second straight year -- losing 1-0 to runner-up High Point in 2012.
With most of the attention on the other semifinal, which features 10-time county champion and 2012 winner Voorhees, Sponzo feels her team is relieved of some of the pressure associated with such a big game. The Hunterdon County school hasn't played for a title in six years -- losing in the 2001, '05 and '07 H-W finals.
"Sometimes it's nice being the underdog," Sponzo said. "I think the girls are comfortable right now where we're at. They haven't been in this situation, but they're confident with how they play."
Junior forwards Kendall Nickel (11 goals, 9 assists) and Taylor Barrett (9 goals, 7 assists), along with senior forward Sarah Pulkowski (10 goals), pace Central's offense. Midfielder Jane Higley has done a nice job filling in for Ali Baligian, who recently returned from a knee injury sustained in the Sparta game. Junior goalie Hannah Cechini (seven shutouts) has also done a nice job in the cage.
Meanwhile, Warren Hills, which won HWS titles in 2009 and '11, is the hottest team in the field having won nine in a row and outscoring its opponents, 33-1, including an impressive 3-0 win over Hunterdon Central on Tuesday. The Blue Streaks have won three of the last five meetings with Voorhees, including a 4-1 victory at home on Oct. 3. The Vikings prevailed, 2-1 in overtime, when the teams met on the Hunterdon County school's grass field on Sept. 17.
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Voorhees (13-3) ousted Warren Hills in last year's semifinals -- 2-0 in Washington -- after the Streaks won both regular-season matchups.
"We want revenge on them [from the first loss this season]," said talented Hills freshman forward Dani Profita, who had a goal and an assist in the second meeting this year. "The first game was not Warren Hills field hockey. The second time we played our game."
5-Hackettstown (9-4) at 3-Hunterdon Central (14-3) -- Tigers are on a Cinderella run with wins over No. 4 Vernon (9-0) and No. 1 South Hunterdon (3-2 on strokes). The last time these school met in the county tournament, Hackettstown earned a 1-0 win in the 2005 championship game. Sophomore forward Samantha Strathern scored a goal and converted a stroke in the win over the favored Eagles. Central has an edge in this one having played a superior schedule. Warren Hills has been the only team to slow down Nickel in recent weeks, as she's recorded five goals and eight assists in the team's last nine games. Pulkowski has scored 10 goals in the last 13 games.
Prediction: Hunterdon Central, 3-1.
4-Warren Hills (12-3-1) at 2-Voorhees (13-3) -- Doesn't get any better around these parts than when these two rivals go at it as they will tee it up for the 55th time in a series dating to 1975. Voorhees holds a 30-18-6 edge in the series, including a 5-1 record in county games against the Warren County school. Sophomore forward Kathryn Roncoroni (27 goals) was kept off the board last time after scoring both goals in the win on Sept. 17. The Vikes also lost goalie Kathryn Boyce for the season with a leg injury in the second meeting. Coach Laurie Kerr is 8-17-3 in this series and would love nothing more than to advance to the program's fourth HWS final with a win over the school's nemesis. Playing this one on grass will make it a tougher road.
Prediction: Warren Hills, 2-1 OT.
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