Field hockey: NH, Hills, P'burg roll on to semifinals

We're down to the Final Four in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area field hockey ranks.

As expected, North Hunterdon and Warren Hills, the 1 and 2 seeds, advanced to the North 3 sectional semifinals with quarterfinal wins on Tuesday. The Lions extended their win streak to 10 straight with a 4-0 victory over Summit, while the Blue Streaks scored a 3-1 win at home against No. 7 seed Chatham under the lights at Warren Hills School District Stadium.

Phillipsburg, a No. 9 seed, moved to the North Group 4 semifinals with an impressive 5-1 victory over Montgomery in the rubber match between the Skyland Conference schools. The Cougars opened the year with a 4-2 win over the Stateliners, who avenged that loss with a 5-1 win on the road on Oct. 7.

Lenape Valley (16-3-1), which played on Monday, reached the North 1 semifinals with a 2-0 win over Whippany Park. The sixth-seeded Patriots, seeking their program's third sectional title and first since 1990, will travel to No. 2 Pompton Lakes, which ousted Newton, 4-1, in the quarterfinals, on Thursday. Second-year coach Isabelle Becker was a member of the last Lenape Valley team to reach the sectional semis in 2014. 

Streaks seek the program's 19th section/region title.

Warren Hills (15-5-1), which is looking to extend its title streak to 10 in a row and has won 29 straight sectional/regional contests dating to 2012, opened the postseason with a surprisingly-tight 2-1 win vs. No. 15 seed Millburn. Coach Josie Potter's team, which will next host No. 3 Randolph on Friday, has won three straight since a 5-0 loss to North Hunterdon on Oct. 21 -- its third setback against the Lions this season. 

Are we heading for a fourth matchup?

"We have to get through Randolph first," Potter said after Tuesday's win. "We played well [against Chatham]. Hopefully we can keep it rolling."

This will be the Streaks' first postseason meeting with Randolph and first in the series since 1987. Hills, which is 93-44 all-time in postseason play and has not lost a home playoff game since 2007, is 4-0-1 and has outscored the Rams, 16-0, in their brief series dating to 1983.

Warren Hills sophomore forward-midfielder Sarah Salameh has emerged as an offensive force, sharing the team lead for goals (17) with standout senior forward Maddie Summitt. Salameh has scored five goals in the team's last five games, while sophomore Jess Pawloski and junior Gabby Fama (first career) had goals against Chatham. Defensively, freshman back Shivya Desai and senior sweeper Holly Ort, who Potter said is "playing phenomenal hockey right now," have picked up the slack since the loss of star senior back Emily Dvorsky was sidelined by a knee injury. 

North Hunterdon (18-1), which is enjoying its best season in recent memory, is seeking the program's third sectional title and first since 1993 and second finals appearance in three years. The Lions, who had not played for a championship since '93, came up short in the 2019 North 2, Group 4 final, falling to Hunterdon Central, 2-1, at Singley Field.

First-year North coach Geoff Chrisman's team will next host No. 5 seed Lawrence -- a 3-0 winner over No. 4 Northern Highlands -- in Friday's semifinals. Lawrence (19-3) is led by senior forward and Cornell commit Talia Schneck (112 goals), who became the first in New Jersey history to reach the century mark for goals in a season earlier this year.

Junior forward Lauren Masters, who continues to rewrite the Lions' offensive record books with a career-best 38 goals this season and needs eight points to reach the century mark for this season, was held without a goal or an assist for just the third time this season in North's win over Summit. Senior forward Ryan Anderson logged a goal and an assist -- giving her a career-best 30 goals and a team-leading and a HWS area-best 18 assists on the year. 

Senior goalies McKenna Laman and Katherine Hall combined for North's eighth shutout, as the Lions have outscored their opponents, 72-4, during their 10-game winning streak since a 4-3 loss in overtime to Pingry on Oct. 5.

P'burg, which reached the semifinals for the first time since 2017, and is seeking the program's first sectional title since 1999, will next hit the road to face No. 4 seed Montclair, a 6-0 winner over No. 5 Princeton, on Friday at the Watchung School. The Mounties, led by longtime coach Mary Pat Mercurio who surpassed the 400 career wins mark this season, have been a postseason thorn in the Stateliners' side for many years, most recently scoring a 3-1 win in the 2019 North 1, Group 4 quarterfinals.

"On any given day, anything can happen," said P'burg coach Toni Popinko, whose teams are 4-3 overall in postseason play during her five seasons in charge. "They're a good team. We played them a couple of years ago. I do remember that game vividly."

P'burg eyes history in its 60th season overall.

Montclair (16-4) also won postseason matchups with Phillipsburg in 2016 (6-0 at home in the North 1, Group 4 quarters) and 2011 (3-2 at home in the North 1, Group 4 semifinals). P'burg, which did score a 1-0 victory at Montclair in the 2009 quarterfinals, haven't had muck luck in that series or in the playoffs in general, missing out on the chance to play for the 2010 sectional title under coach Carrie Saul due to having played too many regular-season games. The 'Liners were ruled ineligible after an 8-1 win over Vernon in the semifinals -- the program's last finals berth.

Since that 2010 season, Saul's last before taking over at Catasauqua and now Northampton (Pa.), her alma mater, Phillipsburg, which went 109-105-8 under Saul from 2000-10, has gone 82-121-9 (three winning seasons) the last 11 years. A major reason for the recent turnaround, back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since three straight from 2004-06, has been getting players to make an offseason commitment. 

"We've built pretty much from the ground up," Popinko said. "When I took over, we had zero girls playing travel or club. Now, we have 13-14 playing year-round."

Junior forwards Samantha Helman and Gracie Merrick scored goals in the win over Montgomery, while senior center midfielder Madison Darmstadt, a Stonehill College commit, continued to fuel the offense with a goal and an assist. Darmstadt, who played most of her high school career as a defensive player, has logged two goals and two assists in the playoffs and seven of her eight goals in the team's last eight games. 

Sophomore Adrianna Taynor also scored her first varsity goal, while senior Lena Lopes added a career-high three assists.

In the other North 4 semifinal, No. 3 seed Ridge -- a 2-1 winner in overtime against No. 6 Hillsborough -- will face No. 2 Middletown South, which scored a 1-0 win over Bridgewater-Raritan in the quarters. Phillipsburg split with Ridge during the regular season, avenging a 3-1 loss at home on Sept. 14 with a 2-1 win on the road on Oct. 12.

Semifinal matchups

North Group 4

9-Phillipsburg (11-9) at 4-Montclair (16-4), 11 a.m.

3-Ridge (16-4-1) at 2-Middletown South (16-4)

North Group 3

5-Lawrence (19-3) at 1-North Hunterdon (18-1), 11 a.m.

3-Randolph (17-3-1) at 2-Warren Hills (15-5-1), 2 p.m.

North Group 1

4-Glen Ridge (16-4) at 1-Shore (22-1)

6-Lenape Valley (16-3-1) at 2-Pompton Lakes (19-1), 11 a.m.