Field hockey: Streaks primed to end state title drought

It's a familiar scene for Warren Hills' field hockey program -- one that it hopes has a very different ending.

For the eighth time in their history, the Blue Streaks head south with the goal of bringing home an elusive state championship as they take on nemesis Ocean City at noon on Saturday in the Group 3 final at Toms River East High School.

The contest is the second of five championship games. Another Skyland Conference member, Bridgewater-Raritan, meets state power Eastern for the ninth straight year in the Group 4 final at 2 p.m. West Essex faces Wall Township in the Group 2 final at 10 a.m.; Shore Regional battles Collingswood in the Group 1 final at 4 p.m., and Oak Knoll squares off against St. Joseph-Hammonton in the first Non-Public final at 6 p.m., a rematch of last year's Group 1 final.

"This team is really composed," said veteran coach Laurie Kerr, whose teams are 0-5 all-time in state finals during her 14 seasons at Warren Hills. "The pressure is on for them, the community and everyone that has supported them. We just need to get the monkey off our backs."

Warren Hills (22-3-1) has never been on this kind of roll entering a state final. The Streaks are riding a program-record 19-game win streak -- outscoring opponents 75-5 during the stretch -- following a 9-0 pounding of Northern Highlands in Thursday's Group 3 semifinal at Boonton High School. One more will give the Warren County school a single-season record for victories and the first state team title in any female sport.

Warren Hills' eighth appearance in a state final is the most among Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex schools, surpassing Belvidere's total of seven in Group 1. The County Seaters won titles in 1989 and '90, in addition to appearances in '82, '88, '91, '92 and '96. No team from the tri-county area has won a championship since Hunterdon Central (six finals appearances) claimed the last of its three titles in 1996.

Standing in the way, as in four previous years, is an Ocean City (18-5) team that's been here and done that eight times in its fine history, including a 2-0 win over Warren Hills in last year's Group 3 final at The College of New Jersey. The Red Raiders also denied the Streaks' title bids in 1999, 2001 and '09. OC's other championships came against High Point (1997 and 2002), Mount Olive (1998) and Ridge (2005). Only Moorestown (16), Eastern (16), West Essex (15), Shore Regional (12) and Shawnee (11) have won more titles than Ocean City. 

The '99 and '09 games both ended with losses in overtime. All of the previous meetings were at TCNJ, except the '09 game, where Colleen Slaughter converted a penalty stroke for the 2-1 win in Toms River. Outstanding Blue Streaks forward Toni Popinko, now playing at the University of Delaware, was called for a high-stick infraction while attempting to make a goal-line save for the foul that caused the stroke. The Streaks also lost 2-1 in former coach Luanne Ferenci's final game in '99.

This title rematch is certainly not unexpected, as both teams return a wealth of talent from a year ago. But Warren Hills had a huge question mark at the critical goalie position this offseason. In fact, Kerr was a nervous wreck with no in-house options until recruiting sophomore Taylor Austin to fill the void.

After a bit of a slow start, Austin has been a rock in the cage, helping the defense earn a program-best 19 shutouts. 

"She had never seen a field hockey game," Kerr said. "[After talking with here in the offseason] I thought she could handle the pressure. She's come up with a lot of key saves."

Junior backs Amanda Crampton and Allie Brouhard and Amanda Oberly, along with sophomore Rachel Phillips, have been stalwarts this season in the back end.  

Offensively, junior forwards Sydney Muntone (19 goals, 17 assists) and Jessica Nissen (13 goals), along with super freshman Dani Profita (15 goals), senior forward Shannon Zignoli (7 goals) and sophomore Katie Thompson (3 goals), lead a well-balanced attack. The midfield is strong with junior Nikki Profita (20 goals, 13 assists) and senior Nikki Schott (9 goals, 9 assists), a four-year starter, along with senior Melanie Loth.

Muntone, who is one assist shy of matching Lauren Cuff (18 in 2002) for the second-most in a season, needs one goal to join Nikki Profita and five other Blue Streaks to amass 20 goals in a season. With 48 career goals, Muntone currently is tied with Lori Toole (48 in 1979) for fourth place on the Streaks' all-time list. Only Lindsey Schott (72 from 2008-11), Niki Miller (61 from 2009-12) and Megan Springmeyer (54 from 2004-07) have more career goals. Nikki Profita is sixth on the list with 44.

Nikki Schott is third on the school's all-time assists list with 40, behind only her sister, Lindsey (46) and Miller (57).

"We have a lot of kids that have played in big games before with [offseason] club and indoor tournaments," Kerr said. "Only Dani, Amanda, Taylor and Katie Thompson didn't play in last year's [Group 3 final]."

In last year's contest, the teams battled to a scoreless tie in the first half before Ocean City broke through midway through the second half on goals by Lauren McNally and Jordan Allegretto. McNally, a junior back/midfielder, is among seven returning starters and one of the offensive leaders with 14 goals and 16 assists. Allegretto, a freshman on last year's title team, has eight goals and 12 assists.

Senior forward Leah Davies and junior forward Kelly Hanna lead the Red Raiders with 21 goals apiece.

Defensively, Ocean City had 13 shutouts, including three in a row in the postseason. The Red Raiders advanced to the title game with a 1-0 win over Allentown in Thursday's semifinals.

Last year's loss was the first decided by more than one goal. The Blue Streaks also lost to West Deptford (2-1 in 1997), Cumberland (1-0 in 2000) and Moorestown (2-1 in OT in 2003) in finals at TCNJ's Lions Stadium.

Bridgewater (21-2), which recently claimed its ninth sectional title (consecutively since 2005) and handed Warren Hills its last defeat, 2-1 on Sept. 21, has lost the last seven Group 4 finals to Eastern (23-0-1). The South Jersey school has won 15 straight sectional titles and a state record 14 straight Group 4 titles since 1999 under coach Danyle Heilig (373-10-9 in 15 seasons). A win on Saturday would give the Vikings the most state titles in New Jersey history. Junior forward Austyn Cuneo holds national records for season (87 in 2013) and career (224) goals.

Prediction: Warren Hills 3, Ocean City 1.