RARITAN TWP. -- Pardon the interruption but Hunterdon Central's field hockey team is back on top with Tuesday's 1-0 win over Montgomery in the North 2, Group 4 final at Stewart Field.
The top-seeded Red Devils (18-6) were denied in a bid to repeat a year ago after knocking off the sixth-seeded Cougars (12-10-1) in the 2011 title game in Skillman. But junior forward Kendall Nickel scored the lone goal -- her 15th of the season -- with 16:10 left in the first half to send Central on its way to a 13th sectional championship and seventh under veteran coach Jenn Sponzo.
"This is very exciting," said Nickel, a freshman on the 2011 team who saw significant action in that title contest. "My freshman year was very exciting being my first year on varsity. We've all been so close and worked so hard for this one."
Hunterdon Central will meet a familiar foe in the next round as it faces North 1 champion Bridgewater-Raritan at 6 p.m. in Thursday's Group 4 semifinals at Boonton High School. The Red Devils split a pair of Skyland Conference Delaware Division meetings with the Panthers this season, winning 2-1 on Sept. 10 and dropping a 3-2 decision in overtime at home on Oct. 3. The win was the first for Central in the series since 2007, snapping a 13-game losing skid. Bridgewater won the North 2 title last year, posting a 4-0 win over Central in the sectional semifinals.
Perennial champion Eastern (22-0-1), which won its 21st South Jersey sectional title and 15th in a row with an 11-0 win over Washington Township, will meet Freehold Borough in the other state semifinal. The winners will play for the Group 4 title on Saturday at Toms River East. Central won the last of its Group 4 titles in 1996, losing four times to Eastern in the final since in 2001, '02, '03 and '04.
Central, which has won three in a row in the postseason after back-to-back losses -- 2-1 in overtime at Delaware Valley and 1-0 at home against Voorhees -- to end the regular season, has come a long way as a program since going a combined 8-26-1 in 2009 and '10. Though all of her sectional titles are special, Sponzo said this run was a bit sweeter.
"They're definitely all good," said Sponzo, whose 2011 team knocked off the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 seeds to win the title. "A lot of people wrote us off and I don't think we got the respect because we were out of [title contention] for so long. If we didn't do it this year, we never will. We have a lot of talent. We can put the ball in the cage and our defense rocks. They're a great bunch of girls."
After scoring six goals in each of its two previous playoff wins -- both 6-2 decisions over Hillsborough and West Windsor South -- Central's offense was slowed in this defensive struggle played in frigid conditions. How cold was it? Well, play was halted with 14:47 left because the game ball split in half.
Montgomery, which started field hockey in 2002, was playing in its third straight sectional final and seeking its first title after the program's first finals appearance in 2010. The Somerset County school held its own until Nickel redirected a rocket pass from junior midfielder Kailey Dalgauer into the cage to break the ice.
"I just did what my coaches told me to do and kept my stick down," Nickel said. "I was looking for the pass from Kailey and it went in. We're used to having a little more cushion on offense, but we kept our focus and kept trying to score."
Sponzo said the goal was exactly the type of scenario the team worked on in practice leading up to the playoffs.
"We worked the last few weeks on our circle play and redirecting shots," said Sponzo, the program's winningest coach and now 208-107-16 overall in 15 seasons. "We set it up perfectly."
Montgomery, which rarely entered the opposing circle and managed just one shot-on-goal, did finish with a 9-7 edge on penalty corners. The Cougars had some golden opportunities with a stretch of four straight corners with 20 minutes left in the second half, but only got off one shot. Central goalie Hannah Cechini made the save to earn her eighth shutout.
The Red Devils changed some things up on defense, knowing Montgomery would be looking to get the ball to midfielder Allie Mannheimer, who leads the team with 11 goals. Central backs Hailey Kohler, Annie Hosler and Erin Vecchio led a stout defensive attack, while senior center midfielder Ally Baligian was a force on both ends.
"We knew they were looking for stick-to-stick passes up top, so we had our defense play man-to-man to mess up their passing instead of crashing through to the top [of the circle]," Sponzo said.
Now the third meeting with nemesis Bridgewater awaits as Central tries to do something it hasn't done since 2001 -- knock off the eight-time defending Group 4 runner-up for the second time in a season.
"We know what to expect from them," said Sponzo, who is 8-15-2 against the Panthers all-time. "They said we were lucky to beat them, and we only lost by a goal in overtime the second time, so that's definitely motivation."
Montgomery (12-10-1) 0 0 -- 0
Hunterdon Central (18-6) 1 0 -- 1
Scoring
First half -- HC, Kendall Nickel, 15th, (Kailey Dalgauer), 16:10.
Shots -- Montgomery 1; Hunterdon Central 9.
Saves -- Kiran Sunduram 8 (M); Hannah Cechini 1 (HC).
Penalty corners -- Montgomery 9; Hunterdon Central 7.
Great gamer, Mikey. As usual!
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