Field hockey: Streaks ride 2nd-half surge to final

WASHINGTON TWP. -- Warren Hills' field hockey team got a dose of reality during a motivational halftime talk coming off a sluggish first half.

The message in short was either pick up the pace in the next 30 minutes or forget any thoughts of an eighth straight sectional title.

Junior Jenna Wyckoff scored the go-ahead goal and assisted on another by junior Simryn Desai as the top-seeded Blue Streaks responded with a 3-0 win over No. 5 Mendham in a North 1, Group 3 semifinal on Tuesday afternoon at Warren Hills School District Stadium.

Warren Hills celebrates the program's 708th win.

Warren Hills (20-1), which is seeking the program's 17th sectional title and advanced to its ninth straight sectional final, will host No. 2 West Morris (20-1-1) in the title game at 4 p.m. on Friday.

The North 1 winner will face the North 2 champion -- either Middletown South (17-3-1) or Chatham (13-4-2) -- in Tuesday's Group 3 semifinals.

"At halftime, [third-year coach Josie Potter] opened our eyes that this could be our last game," Wyckoff said  "We were thinking about our [2-1] loss to Ridge [on Oct. 15], and we knew we'd feel worse if we lost our last game of the season."

Mendham (6-11-1), which scored a 1-0 win in a sectional quarterfinal game decided by penalty strokes against No. 4 seed Wayne Valley, didn't seem the least bit intimidated by a Warren Hills team that's been pegged to make a run at the program's third Group 3 state title since 2014.

Desai, who gave Warren Hills some breathing room with her 19th goal of the season, logged one of the Blue Streaks' four shots-on-goal in the first half that bounced off the pads of Minutemen goalie Hanna Cortes. But the offense couldn't muster any other serious threats, leading to a blunt halftime talk by Potter.

"I told them that [Mendham] wanted it more in the first half," said Potter, now 10-2 overall in postseason games. "I reminded them how they felt after the Ridge loss -- in a game that technically didn't matter -- and if they wanted to keep playing -- figure it out. And they did."

Wyckoff snapped the scoreless tie with her seventh goal of the season -- redirecting a nice drive toward the cage by Desai, who picked up her fourth assist. Wyckoff returned the favor just 54 second later when she assisted on Desai's 19th goal of the season, tying her with senior forward Samantha Dugan for the team lead.

"Desai sent a pass flat and I hit it off the backside of my stick, and luckily it went in," Wyckoff said. "Then, she put one in to secure the lead. From there, as coach Potter likes to say, we played Warren Hills hockey."

Senior back Jess DeSanto, who came back this year after sitting out her junior season, capped the scoring with her second goal of the year. Dugan, who had her left thigh taped to start the game, was forced to leave with 13:11 left in the second half after sustaining an apparent right ankle injury.

Though her scoring numbers don't rival the big totals produced by other Blue Streaks forwards, seven goals and six assists overall this season, Wyckoff has come up big last two postseasons. She scored the go-ahead goal that preceded Desai's overtime winner in a 3-2 victory against West Morris in the 2018 final that gave the Streaks their seventh title in a row.

"When she is on, she commands the field," Potter said. "She hides in the shadows a little bit surrounded by our big scorers. But she distributes the ball well and has a tremendous sense for the game. She's our workhorse. She's not the flashiest player, but when she's on the field, you notice."

Defensively, Warren Hills did not allow a shot-on-goal and rock-solid backs Emily Dvorsky and Liz Schlaffer, along with sweeper Kylie Compton, secured the unit's 14th shutout and third in a row.

Center midfielder Kate Fenner, one of four starting seniors and a Fairfield University recruit, said the Streaks just needed a fresh start after a disappointing first half against Mendham, now 0-6 all-time against Warren Hills in postseason meetings dating to 1982.

"What coach said at halftime was perfect and spot on," Fenner said. "The second half, everyone showed  they wanted [to win]. If we did that, we knew we could come out on top."

Mendham (6-11-1)                           0                   0            --    0
Warren Hills (21-1)                          0                   3            --    3

Scoring

Second half -- WH, Jenna Wyckoff, 7th, (Simryn Desai), 23:37; WH, Desai, 19th, (Wyckoff), 22:43; WH, Jess DeSanto, 2nd, 7:25.

Shots -- Mendham 0; Warren Hills 12.

Saves -- Hanna Cortes 9 (M); Julia Webber 0 (WH).

Penalty corners -- Mendham 1; Warren Hills 9.