WASHINGTON TWP. -- Warren Hills' field hockey team is off to a rousing start in "season two."
Sophomore midfielder Olivia Chomut picked the right time for her varsity goal as she knocked in a rebound with 53 seconds left in sudden-victory overtime to give No. 3 seed Warren Hills a thrilling 1-0 win over No. 7 Voorhees on Saturday afternoon in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament semifinals.
Warren Hills (11-4-1), which advances to its sixth straight final and ninth overall in tournament's 10-year history, will meet No. 4 Hackettstown -- a 3-1 winner over No. 8 Belvidere -- at 3 p.m. on Saturday in the championship game at Newton High School .
"We're so excited," said Chomut, who played a tremendous all-around game as the left midfielder in a new-look lineup for the Blue Streaks since their 4-2 loss at home to Voorhees on Oct. 2 -- a defeat that had the defending HWS champions pumped for the rematch. "They're our rivals. We were very intense today."
With time winding down in the seven-a-side OT, Warren Hills was awarded a penalty corner to set up the winning goal. Junior Samantha Dugan, the team's new insert on corners, sent the ball in on the left side to sophomore Sarah Korczukowski, who tipped it over to sophomore Kylie Compton near the top of the circle. Compton sent the ball toward the goal, but it was deflected over to Chomut, who tucked it into a wide-open cage to set off a victory celebration.
"I just tipped it in. I loved it," Chomut said. "Our teamwork [was key to the win] and we made really good passes."
Warren Hills, now 32-3 all-time in HWS Tournament play, has endured numerous injuries this season -- sophomore forwards Jenna Wyckoff (family commitment) and Julianna Valli (concussion) were out of the lineup Saturday -- and growing pains with a mostly sophomore-laden lineup. Second-year coach Josie Potter told her players shortly after the loss to Voorhees that it was a brand new season, while making wholesale lineup changes that have seemed to spark this talented group, which has now won four in a row, in its quest for an eighth straight sectional title and a seventh consecutive appearance in the Group 3 final.
"This season has been a battle of overcoming things," said Potter, a former star player at Warren Hills and an assistant coach on the program's first state championship team in 2014. "Every time we get someone back from an injury, we'd lose someone else. But we've rebounded. This is season part two. They've busted their butts [in practice] and they've really stepped up their play. No one was stepping up and claiming their spot earlier in the season. Our juniors have really stepped it up. They're becoming more vocal and they are starting to embrace the leadership role."
Voorhees (11-5), which had been playing as well as any team in the area of late, saw its seven-game win streak snapped along with its bid to return to the HWS final for the fourth time in program history and first since 2014. The Vikes, who dominated the previous meeting after a 3-1 loss to Warren Hills in the season opener for both, had several chances to win in the overtime before the Streaks, who have won nine of the last 14 meetings and five of seven in HWS play, cashed in.
Two attempted shots-on-goal sailed wide left in the first 2:10, including one by junior Cassie Boyce, who also was denied on a great opportunity during a one-on-one with Warren Hills goalie Julia Webber with 5:33 left on the clock. As she has done many times this season, Webber came up in the circle to defend the play.
"I've been focused on going up [in the circle] and challenging the ball," said Webber, who saw limited minutes on the varsity level last season. "I figure, why give them a bigger area [to make a shot or a pass]."
In regulation, Voorhees, which played a strong second half and enjoyed an 8-2 advantage on corners, was awarded a penalty stroke four minutes into the second half when Webber made contact with an offensive player during a sliding save attempt. But junior Lauren Kokoskie sent the stroke extremely wide left of the cage to keep it a 0-0 game. Warren Hills, which was dominated in the midfield in the previous meeting, smartly kept the ball out wide during its possessions in the rematch.
"I was definitely nervous at first. I'm not a big fan of penalty strokes," said Webber, who helped a stingy Streaks defense record its fifth shutout this season. "I agreed with the [penalty] call. I did not make contact with the ball, [the Voorhees player] pulled it away at the last second."
Warren Hills, which was coming off a season high for goals in a 6-1 win over Phillipsburg on Tuesday, is looking to build off this win with the sectional playoffs on tap in two weeks. Voorhees, by virtue of that win over the Streaks, is closing in on the Skyland Conference Raritan Division title, so winning the HWS Tournament is the next goal on Hills' list.
"Our goal before [a 2-0 victory over Wallkill Valley in the second round of the HWS Tournament on Oct. 6 that started the current win streak] was to run the table," Potter said. "Everything else is in the past. The first time against Voorhees, we played well. The second time, they outplayed us 100 percent. Today was an awesome game, back and forth. I'm so proud of how we played. We had no letdowns.
"We would love to win [the program's seventh HWS title and fifth in six years]. If we continue to play like we did today, I feel very confident about the finals."
Voorhees (11-5) 0 0 0 -- 0
Warren Hills (11-4-1) 0 0 1 -- 1
Scoring
Overtime -- WH, Olivia Chomut, 1st, :53.
Shots -- Voorhees 3; Warren Hills 8.
Saves -- Noelle Gabrish 7 (V); Julia Webber 3 (WH).
Penalty corners -- Voorhees 10; Warren Hills 4.
No comments:
Post a Comment