Monday, October 19, 2020

Field hockey: Masters hits milestone (HWS rankings)

Blink and you might miss North Hunterdon sophomore Lauren Masters racing up and down the field for a full four quarters. 

The speedy forward was also lightning fast in reaching the 100-point plateau for her short career and it even caught Open Mike (we blinked) by surprise when it was announced via the Lions' Twitter feed earlier last week.

Masters, who entered this week with a team-high 15 goals to go with four assists, reached the magic mark in logging three goals and a pair of assists in North's 10-0 win over Hillsborough last Tuesday. 

"I wouldn't be able to accomplish this if it weren't for my teammates," Masters posted on her Twitter page.

After bursting onto the scene with 75 points as a freshman (area-best 30 goals and 15 assists), Masters, now with 109 career points through 29 games, has picked up right where she left off last season, when she helped the Lions reach their first sectional final since 1993.

North Hunterdon (6-0) also is in the midst of its best start to a season in well over a decade behind a potent offense that averaged 5.5 goals per game in those victories. But the Lions' first stiff test of the season comes on Thursday night when they travel to Washington to face state power Warren Hills in what likely will be a battle of unbeaten teams.

The Blue Streaks, off to a 6-0 start for the fourth time in seven years, have won 15 straight meetings against North since a 3-2 loss in overtime at home on Sept. 11, 2009. Lions, who also dropped a 2-1 decision in overtime at home that season, nearly pulled off the upset last season in a tough 1-0 loss at home in the second meeting between these Skyland Conference Raritan Division rivals.

Thursday's showdown could go a long way in deciding this season's division championship.

Local rivalry renewed

Another interesting showdown is slated for Wednesday afternoon as Belvidere hosts Voorhees in a clash of unbeatens.

Belvidere (3-0-1), which hasn't played in nearly 10 days, is looking to establish its program among the elites in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area as coach Beth Franceschino's team is looking to snap a 15-game skid in that series. The Seaters' last win over the Vikes was 3-1 on the road on Oct. 26, 1999. The teams haven't met in five years and just three times overall since 2004, including a 4-0 win for Voorhees in 2015. The Vikes own a 30-12-5 edge in a series dating to 1975.

Now, onto this week's rankings:

1. Warren Hills (6-0) -- Blue Streaks kept rolling with shutout wins against Pingry (9-0 on Tuesday) and Ridge (3-0 on Thursday). Junior Maddie Summitt, who recorded at least one goal or one assist in the team's first six games, connected for two goals in the victory over Pingry, while senior forward Jenna Wyckoff continued to heat up with four goals and three assists in those wins. Senior wing Simryn Desai also had at least one goal or one assist in the first six contests.

Up next: at Watchung Hills on Tuesday; North Hunterdon at home on Thursday.

2. North Hunterdon (6-0) -- Lions followed up a 10-0 shutout of Hillsborough at home with a 3-1 win at Phillipsburg on Thursday. Lauren Masters, who scored all three goals against the Stateliners, led the area with 15 overall through six games while junior assists machine Ryan Anderson had a season-high four in the win over Hillsborough.

Up next: at Bridgewater-Raritan on Tuesday; at Warren Hills on Thursday.

3. Voorhees (7-0) -- Vikes continued to outclass their competition by opening last week with a 10-0 win over North Plainfield in which senior forward Katie McLean notched a goal and three assists, while junior forward Leigha Schultze logged a season-high three goals in an 8-0 waxing of Somerville. Through seven games, coach Shannon Hughes' team racked up 53 goals and yielded just three.

Up next: at Belvidere on Wednesday; at Franklin on Thursday.

4. Hunterdon Central (4-2) -- Red Devils snapped a two-game skid with a 1-0 victory at Montgomery on Tuesday and closed the week with a 1-0 win against Hillsborough on Thursday. Senior midfielder Sarah Woods scored both goals, while senior midfielder Jordan Sponzo had one assist.

Up next: Phillipsburg at home on Tuesday; at Pingry on Thursday.

5. Belvidere (3-0-1) -- County Seaters were idle all of last week since a 1-1 tie against Mount St. Mary on Oct. 10. Senior forward Olivia Zmyewski ranked among the area leaders with seven assists through four games. 

Up next: Voorhees at home on Wednesday; North Plainfield at home on Thursday.

6. South Hunterdon (5-2) -- Eagles rolled to a 9-0 win over Franklin on Tuesday before dropping a 4-2 decision to Mount St. Mary on Thursday. Junior forward Natalia Oprzadek logged a season-high four goals in the win over Franklin and added her team-high sixth in the loss. Senior midfielder Rebecca Phillips entered this week having scored goals in three straight games.

Up next: at Pennington on Thursday; at Stuart County Day on Saturday.

7. Phillipsburg (3-4) -- Stateliners split last week with a 1-0 win over Watchung Hills on Tuesday as sophomore forward Samantha Helman scored her first goal of the season, while senior midfielder Allison Devlin logged her second goal with an assist from junior Madison Darmstadt in a 3-1 loss to North Hunterdon on Thursday.

Up next: at Hunterdon Central on Tuesday.

8. Newton (3-0) -- Braves were off last week following a 2-0 win over Wallkill Valley on Oct. 10 as junior foward Julia Decker scored both goals to match senior forward Elissar Abou-Jaoude, who assisted on both, for the team lead with three apiece.

Up next: at Vernon on Wednesday; High Point at home on Saturday.

9. Delaware Valley (2-3) -- Terriers hanging tough her following wins over Somerville (4-2 on Tuesday) and North Plainfield (6-0 on Thursday). Junior forward Samantha Snowden scored her first two goals of the seasons against North Plainfield, while sophomore Natalie Heiser logged a pair of goals against Somerville.

Up next: Bernards at home on Tuesday; Mount St. Mary at home on Thursday.

10. Vernon (4-0) -- Vikings returned to action following a 13-day layoff with a 2-1 win at Lenape Valley on Thursday. Senior forward Alyssa Van Dalinda scored her second goal of the season, while junior forward Natalie Hasert got her first. Junior Julia Gregory and freshman Sidney Van Tassel were credited with the assists. Van Dalinda also logged two goals in wins over Hackettstown (2-1 on Saturday) and High Point (4-0 on Monday).

Up next: Newton at home on Wednesday; Wallkill Valley at home on Saturday.

On the bubble

Hackettstown (2-2-1) -- Senior forward Megan Doyle (team-high five goals) assisted on the game-winner by Emma Patton in the Tigers' 1-0 win over Wallkill Valley on Thursday.

Lenape Valley (3-1-1) -- Senior forward Julianna Gentilucci leads the Patriots with seven goals.

Sparta (2-2) -- Watch this tack-on goal by senior forward Kayla Collinson in the Spartans' 2-0 win over Morris Knolls on Saturday.

Posted by Mike Weilamann at 6:00 PM

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