Field hockey. Streaks blank Madison for 700th win

Warren Hills' field hockey team is seemingly making program history with each passing game.

Off to the school's best start in 55 seasons, the Blue Streaks kept rolling with a 3-0 victory over Madison to earn the program's 700th win on Friday afternoon at Warren Hills School District Stadium.

Warren Hills celebrates No. 700. (Courtesy of Josie Potter)

The Blue Streaks (13-0), ranked No. 1 in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area by Open Mike and six wins shy of matching a program-best 19-game win streak, were coming off a 2-1 win at Voorhees in a key Skyland Conference Raritan Division clash three days earlier in what's been an eventful week.

Junior left wing Simryn Desai scored her team-leading 12th and 13th goals and had the assist on junior Julianna Valli's sixth goal of the season with 12:21 left in the second half that gave Warren Hills a two-goal advantage and some breathing room against Madison (8-2), which had won four straight since a 3-2 loss at Bernards on Sept. 18.

Desai opened the scoring by tapping in a cross pass with 16:39 left in the first half. Warren Hills held a 1-0 lead at the half before Valli tipped in her shot around Madison goalie Charlotte Villano for a 2-0  lead. The final goal from Desai came off a nice crossing pass from junior Jenna Wyckoff with 7:05 left to play. Senior goalie Julia Webber stopped four shots for her seventh shutout of the season and 17th career as the Streaks extended their home win streak to 12 straight dating to a 4-2 loss to Voorhees on Oct. 2, 2018.

Third-year coach Josie Potter, who celebrated her 50th win as a head coach earlier this season and is now 56-9-1 overall, has been a part of quite a few milestones both as a player and an assistant coach under Laurie Kerr, who won a program-best 264 games in 15 seasons from 2000-14.

#700 wins! Congrats to our @hockey_wh program. #Tradition #Pride #GooooStreaks https://t.co/TtiDG034xN

— Warren Hills HS (@WHRHighSchool) October 4, 2019

During her playing days as Josie Schantzenbach, the Streaks amassed 70 wins in four seasons. She was the  MVP as a senior on the 1999 team that finished 18-4-1 and lost a controversial 2-1 overtime decision to Ocean City in the Group 3 final in what was former coach Luanne Ferenci's final game after 19 seasons at the helm -- going 226-101-41 overall.

Warren Hills, the No. 1 seed, will next face No. 9 Belvidere at home on Monday in the quarterfinals of the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament. The Streaks, who are eyeing their seventh tri-county title overall and first since 2017, will also have a chance to clinch at least a share of the Raritan Division title with victories over Phillipsburg at home on Tuesday and at North Hunterdon on Thursday. A loss by Voorhees -- either at Montgomery on Tuesday or at Ridge on Thursday -- combined with two wins for Warren Hills would clinch the title outright for the Streaks.

Madison (8-2)                              0                   0            --    0
Warren Hills (13-0)                      1                   2            --    3

Scoring

First half -- WH, Simryn Desai, 12th, 16:39.

Second half -- WH, Julianna Valli, 6th, (Desai), 12:21; WH, Desai, 13th, (Jenna Wyckoff), 7:05.

Shots -- Madison 4, Warren Hills 14.

Saves -- Charlotte Villano 11 (M); Julia Webber 4 (WH).