Field hockey: Stroke sends Streaks to 7th HWS title

HACKETTSTOWN -- Two championships down, two to go for Warren Hills' field hockey team.

Junior midfielder Sarah Korczukowski converted a penalty stroke to open the scoring in the second half and senior forward Samantha Dugan tapped in a goal near the buzzer to ice a 2-0 victory over Voorhees -- giving the Blue Streaks a record seventh Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament championship on Saturday afternoon at Morrison Field.

Warren Hills celebrates its seventh HWS title.

It was sweet redemption for Warren Hills (19-1), which lost 1-0 in overtime to Hackettstown in the 2018 championship game at Newton High School's Palmer Field. The Streaks, now 35-4 all-time in the 11-year history of HWS tournament play, also suffered their first loss of this season on Tuesday -- 2-1 at Ridge -- before bouncing back with a 5-1 victory over Montgomery on Thursday to clinch the Skyland Conference Raritan Division title.

"At the beginning of the season, our goal was to not be a second-place team," said third-year coach Josie Potter, now 8-1 overall against Voorhees. "We lost the [Raritan Division] to Voorhees, the HWS to Hackettstown and [the Group 3 state final] to Moorestown last year. My team really showed up today. It makes me very proud."

Beating Voorhees is no easy task, let alone three times in one season. Warren Hills, which has prevailed in eight of the last nine meetings, won both regular-season matchups -- 2-0 at home on Sept. 3 and 2-1 on the road on Oct. 1 -- to join the 2017 squad as the only ones to beat the Vikes, who still own a 34-28-6 edge in the all-time series, three times in a season. Voorhees had won seven in a row since that second loss to Warren Hills.

"It's tough [to beat them three times]. We know it's going to be close," said Korczukowski, who earned the championship game's Most Valuable Player Award, the third non-senior to win it for the Streaks -- joining Dani Profita (2014) and Ashley Moskal (2017). "It's always a hard game. My freshman year, we beat them three times so we know it's possible."

Goal!!! @sarah_korzo pic.twitter.com/Vy4JcBN4km

— Warren Hills HS (@WHRHighSchool) October 19, 2019

Voorhees (16-4), whose only other loss this season was 5-1 to Group 2 powerhouse West Essex on Sept. 5, had a golden chance to gain some early momentum in the third meeting with Warren Hills. But senior Madison Ogorzalek's apparent goal at 22:55 in the first half was waved off when the officials deemed the ball went through the netting on the side of the cage and in.

From that point on, the Vikes generated little on the offensive end, managing just two shots-on-goal. On defense, backs Sadie Eichlin and Grace Schiavo did a tremendous job in front of goalie Noelle Gabrish of keeping a potent Warren Hills offense at bay.

"Our defense played really well," said second-year coach Shannon Hughes, whose team is the No. 1 seed for the North 2, Group 2 sectional playoffs that begin on Monday. "Noelle made some great saves, big saves, that kept us in the game. My team said that was a goal, and from our angle it looked like it went in. We were able to score early the last couple of games, but we couldn't find [our offense] today."

Hills' 7th HWS trophy.

Korczukowski stepped up at a critical point in a scoreless game to turn the tide. Her stroke attempt -- awarded due to the ball off a shot from Warren Hills sophomore Maddie Summitt hitting a Voorhees defender, who was positioned right alongside Gabrish in the circle, hit hard off the left post, but the ball trickled behind Gabrish and crossed the line to give the Streaks a 1-0 lead with 11:35 to play.

"We practiced strokes yesterday. I stepped to the line and took a deep breath, and I always try to pick a corner," Korczukowski said. "When I went to shoot, I overturned a little bit and it went off the back of the post. Luckily, it got behind her. She's an amazing goalie. She's the best we've played against this season. We have some hard-hitters on our team."

The stout Warren Hills defense took it from there as the unit -- starting backs Liz Schlaffer, Emily Dvorsky and sweeper Kylie Compton -- did not allow a shot in the second half. Senior goalie Julia Webber made two saves to earn her 10th shutout of the season.

"We came in with a goal and knew what we wanted," said senior Kate Fenner, who played another solid game and helped control the action from her center-midfield spot. "I knew warming up that we had this. We stayed composed. Voorhees is an amazing team."

Warren Hills, which drew the top seed for the North 1, Group 3 playoffs, will get the week off before its quarterfinal game against either Morris Knolls or Wayne Hills next Saturday. The Streaks look to claim the program's eighth straight sectional title and 17th overall.

Voorhees (16-4)                              0                   0            --    0
Warren Hills (19-1)                          0                   2            --    2

Scoring

Second half -- WH, Sarah Korczukowski, 9th, (penalty stroke), 11:35; WH, Samantha Dugan, 16th, (Paulina Georgoutsos), 0:01.

Shots -- Voorhees 2; Warren Hills 7.

Saves -- Noelle Gabrish 4, Ryleigh Cameron 1 (defensive) (V); Julia Webber 2 (WH).

Penalty corners -- Voorhees 3; Warren Hills 6.