It's been a history-making season and quite a three-year run for North Hunterdon's field hockey team.
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| North celebrates its first county title since 1986. |
North (13-1), which has beaten Hills twice in a season for the first time since 1995, has designs on a Skyland Conference Raritan Division and North Group 3 sectional championships. On tap is a third meeting with the Streaks on Thursday at Singley Field, which will likely decide this year's division champion.
The schools have previously met three times in a season just four times (1997, 2003, 2006 and 2007) with Warren Hills, which owns a 53-32-11 edge overall since 1965, going 10-1-1 in those matchups. North swept the two-game season series eight times (1967, '68, '74, '77, '90, '91, '94 and '95) and continues its amazing turnaround that began in 2019.
In 10 seasons from 2008-18, the Lions went 47-171-5, including 1-15 vs. Warren Hills, and hadn't won more than three games in a season since 2010 until going 4-14 in '18. From 2019 until now, North is 39-12.
The key to victory again on Saturday in the 96th meeting with Warren Hills was North's balanced and unselfish attack. Junior forward Lauren Masters, the program's all-time leading scorer with 82 career goals (26 this season), was held without a goal or an assist for a third straight time against Warren Hills dating to last season, but senior forward Ava Laible, who came in with just six goals, scored twice to fuel the Lions.
"The girls are so happy for each other when people are successful," first-year coach Geoff Chrisman said during an interview earlier this season. "It's nice to see."
Postseason fever
The cutoff to qualify for the upcoming sectional playoffs was on Saturday, and the official pairings and seeds are expected to be released on Wednesday. North Hunterdon has a strong chance to be the No. 1 seed in North Group 3. Warren Hills, which seeks its 19th sectional/regional title and 10th in a row, should be the No. 2 seed.
Interestingly, the format has changed for this season. No longer will four teams be crowned sectional champions in North 1, North 2, Central Jersey and South Jersey. Instead there are 16-team brackets in the North and South in each of the four group classifications, with the winners advancing to crown an overall state champion on Nov. 13 at Bordentown High School.
North Hunterdon, which made its first sectional final appearance in 26 years in 2019, seeks the program's third championship and first since 1993.
The public school postseason schedule is as follows:
Round 1 -- Group 1 on Oct. 25; Group 2 on Oct. 26; Group 3 on Oct. 27; Group 4 on Oct. 28.
Quarterfinals -- Groups 1 and 2 on Nov. 1; Groups 3 and 4 on Nov. 2.
Semifinals -- Groups 1 and 2 on Nov. 4; Groups 3 and 4 on Nov. 5.
Sectional finals -- Nov. 9.
State championships -- Nov. 13.
Now, onto our last set of area rankings until the end of the postseason:
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| Laible with her MVP trophy. |
Up next: at Phillipsburg on Tuesday; Warren Hills at home on Thursday; at Hillsborough on Saturday.
Great win on senior night. #winningisearned https://t.co/mkgruHR2fX
— NHHS_Field_Hockey (@NhhsField) October 15, 2021
2. Warren Hills (12-4) -- Blue Streaks suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since 2018 (2-1 at Madison on Sept. 21 and 1-0 to Hunterdon Central at home on Sept. 26) -- a span of 71 games -- against Phillipsburg (3-0 on Thursday) and North Hunterdon (3-1 on Saturday) following a solid 3-1 win at Montgomery on Oct. 12. The loss to P'burg ended the program's 28-game win streak in that series and the loss to North was just its fifth in 42 career Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament games. Senior Maddie Summitt matched Jenna Wyckoff with her 24th career assist on Saturday for 17th place on the school's all-time list.
Up next: at Ridge on Tuesday; at North Hunterdon on Thursday; Voorhees at home on Saturday.
3. Phillipsburg (8-7) -- Stateliners are coming off a huge week as they avenged an earlier loss to Ridge with a 2-1 victory on Oct. 12 before snapping a 28-game skid against Warren Hills with Thursday's 3-0 win at home. Senior forward Madison Darmstadt and junior forward Gracie Merrick scored goals in both games as the 'Liners posted their first win against the Blue Streaks in 14 years (3-2 at Hills on Oct. 30, 2007, under Carrie Saul, now the head coach at Northampton, Pa.). Keep an eye on coach Toni Popinko's team heading into the North Group 4 sectional playoffs.
Up next: North Hunterdon at home on Tuesday; at Voorhees on Thursday; Easton (Pa.) at home on Saturday.
4. Vernon (12-4) -- Vikings kept rolling with a 3-0 week, capped by a 3-0 win at Jefferson on Saturday. Senior forward and leading scorer Julia Gregory logged six goals overall, including three in a 10-0 win over North Warren, giving her 17 on the season and one shy of her career high set in 2019. Sophomore Sidney Van Tassel chipped in with a pair of goals against the Patriots.
Up next: at Lenape Valley on Tuesday; Newton at home on Thursday; Morris Knolls at home on Saturday.
5. Hackettstown (8-3) -- Tigers jump up three spots following a 2-1 week, including a 9-0 win over North Warren on Friday. Sophomore forward Kierra Koeller continued her fine season with a pair of goals, while freshman Brynn Otto added two goals and a pair of assists. Coach Rachael Gorski's team, which scored a 2-1 win over Newton on Sept. 11, is gearing for a big rematch against the Braves on Tuesday, as the Warren County school can clinch the NJAC Freedom Division title with a win.
Up next: at Newton on Tuesday; at Belvidere on Friday.
6. Newton (10-4) -- Braves vault three spots following Friday's 1-0 win over Lenape Valley, as senior Bridget Kerrick tapped in the winning goal, while senior goalie Erin McLean logged 15 saves for her fifth shutout of the season. Seniors Sidney Pavlishin and Julia Decker scored goals in a 2-1 win over Mount Olive on Oct. 11. A win over Hackettstown on Tuesday would secure at least a share of the NJAC Freedom Division title. Coach Lisa Bechtel's team can win it outright with victories over the Tigers and Vernon on Thursday.
Up next: Hackettstown at home on Tuesday; at Vernon on Thursday.
7. Lenape Valley (11-3-1) -- Patriots opened last week with a 1-0 win over Sparta on Oct. 11, before a 1-0 loss at Newton on Friday. Senior forward Angie Falleni scored the winner against the Spartans -- giving her a team-best 10 goals on the season. Coach Isabelle Becker's team, which posted a 1-0 win against West Morris on Monday, should draw a high seed for the upcoming North Group 1 sectional playoffs.
Up next: Vernon at home on Tuesday; at Jefferson on Thursday.
8. Hunterdon Central (5-8) -- Red Devils rebounded from an 8-0 loss to Bridgewater-Raritan last Tuesday with a 3-1 win over Voorhees on Thursday. Coach Jenn Sponzo's team, which has lost four straight and six of the last nine (two ties) against the Panthers dating to 2018, beat Voorhees for the first time since '18 (2-1 on strokes in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament semis en route to the title) behind a pair of goals from senior forward Sarah DeStefano (team-leading nine).
Up next: Hillsborough at home on Tuesday; Pingry at home on Thursday.
9. Voorhees (8-8) -- Vikes, who have dropped eight games for the first time since going 6-9-1 in 2004, shook off losses to North Hunterdon (11-0 on Oct. 12) and Hunterdon Central (3-1 on Thursday) with a 4-3 win in overtime against Mendham on Saturday to snap the team's three-game losing streak. Senior midfielder Sadie Eichlin led the way with two goals, giving her a team-best 13 on the season. Coach Kat Roncoroni's team can secure the Skyland Conference Valley Division title with a win over North Plainfield (game has yet to be rescheduled).
Up next: Pingry at home on Tuesday; Phillipsburg at home on Thursday; at Warren Hills on Saturday.
10. Delaware Valley (6-8) -- Terriers are red-hot, winning five of six and five in a row after Monday's 1-0 win over Belvidere. Coach Tiffany Kuhl's team was coming off a 3-1 win over South Hunterdon on Thursday -- avenging a 3-1 loss at South on Sept. 21. Senior midfielder Julia Meyko, who logged four goals in the three games prior to Belvidere, scored the game winner against the County Seaters.
Up next: at North Plainfield on Tuesday; Mount St. Mary at home on Thursday.
On the bubble
Belvidere (8-5) -- In their only action last week, County Seaters scored a 2-0 win over Mount St. Mary in a key Skyland Conference Mountain Division clash on Thursday to avenge a 3-2 loss on the road in the first meeting on Sept. 20. Junior forward Kayla Connors scored both goals, giving her 10 on the season. Coach Beth Franceschino's team dropped a 1-0 decision to Delaware Valley on Monday.
South Hunterdon (8-5-1) -- Eagles fell back out of the rankings with Thursday's 3-1 loss at Delaware Valley before capping the week with a 5-0 win over Franklin behind a pair of goals from junior Briana Tumler. Junior Sarah Faherty logged three goals last week, including two in a 3-0 win over North Plainfield.
Wallkill Valley (8-5) -- Rangers, who have won three of their last four, squeezed out a 1-0 win over Jefferson on Oct. 11 in their only action of last week. Coach Irene Chernati's team, 5-0 in the NJAC Colonial Division race, can secure at least a share of the title with wins against Kittatinny (Thursday) and North Warren (Friday) this week.
High Point (6-8) -- Wildcats snapped a three-game skid -- including one-goal losses to Hackettstown and Newton -- with Thursday's 6-0 win over Kittatinny in their annual Play for Pink game to raise cancer awareness. Senior forward Audrey Flannery logged four goals in the win.
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