Field hockey: 'We did all we could do'; NH's run ends

CLINTON TWP. -- North Hunterdon's field hockey team may be sad that it's over, but the program's first state championship season brought a new level of joy for all of the players and coaches.

The Lions' 6-2 loss to Oak Knoll in the Tournament of Champions semifinals on Wednesday afternoon at Singley Field was a tough way to go out, but North (21-2), which saw its 13-game win streak also come to an end, was still riding high just four days after a 1-0 victory over Moorestown in the Group 3 state title game -- the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area's first championship since Warren Hills went back-to-back in Group 3 in 2014-15.

NH was one shy of the school record for wins (22 in 1986)

"This is the best year yet and I couldn't ask for a better team and better teammates on and off the field," said senior midfielder and Kent State recruit Olivia Reeder, who put Oak Knoll on its heels early with a first-quarter goal. "They're there for me and it's a very special team.

"As a freshman, I never thought we would ever get this far. It was kind of a dream. This still doesn't even feel real. Just getting this far was amazing."

North Hunterdon, which was seeking the area's first TOC win (the event began in 2006) after Warren Hills lost consecutive semifinal appearances in its title years, took a 1-0 lead on Reeder's goal off the Lions' third penalty corner of the opening quarter. But Oak Knoll (22-3), which won two of the three previous TOCs and will next face eight-time champion Eastern -- a 4-3 winner over West Essex -- in Friday's title game, connected for the first of its five goals off corners in the game with 6:49 left on the clock and never looked back.

"It definitely was [tough to play after Saturday's win], especially because we're some of the last [fall] sports still playing," said senior assist machine Ryan Anderson, who has opted not to play field hockey in college. "Even to get up some intensity at practice was kind of hard, but it is what is. We did our best."

North had several chances to perhaps take an early two-goal lead, including a give-and-go in the circle from Anderson to senior left wing Ava Laible, who was unable to get off a shot at a wide-open cage as the ball sailed by her stick the left post. 

"There's a lot of things we could have done differently that could have affected the outcome, but we just try to win every three minutes," said Reeder, who logged another solid performance in the midfield. "It just happened that they got a couple of goals and we weren't able to make a comeback. I think we held them a lot of the game."

Oak Knoll, as most of the elite teams do, capitalized on 23 penalty corners, including 16 in the first half. Junior Julia Ramsey scored four goals overall, including what proved to be the decisive tally with 2:23 left in the first quarter. The corners and goals allowed were season highs for North.

"You can not give an exceptional team chances. And that's what we did today," said first-year North coach Geoff Chrisman, whose team went 11-1 at home this season. "We gave an exceptional team chances on the [numerous] corners that we gave them today. They made us pay for it.

North's state title is the county's first since 1996.

"In big games you have to make the big plays. We had some chances in the first quarter and we didn't take advantage of it. And then I think when [Oak Knoll] came back and scored that quick goal right after us, we tensed up a little bit, we got nervous. And by the time we recovered it was 4-1. When there's four teams left [playing] in the state everybody's really good. We can't give a team like that opportunities."

With the game seemingly out of reach after Ramsey tucked in Oak Knoll's sixth goal and her team-leading 26th of the season with 9:57 left in the third quarter, North regained its footing and applied pressure until the final whistle. Junior center forward Lauren Masters, the Lions' all-time leading scorer and Louisville commit, capped the scoring with her team-record 44th goal of the year and No. 102 for her outstanding career.

"We took as we're playing another really tough team and we were just going to play our game," said Reeder, when asked of how tough it was to play coming off the biggest game in North field hockey history on Saturday. "We knew [Oak Knoll was] a really good team. We were just focused on us. We wanted to play how we play and not let them get in our heads, and I don't think we did."

Oak Knoll, which has won seven in a row since a 5-1 loss to Eastern on Oct. 20, just never gave North any breathing room after that early surge. Ramsey's first goal put North in a 2-1 hole, the first time the Lions had trailed in a game since a 4-3 loss in overtime to Pingry on Oct. 5 -- a span of 52 quarters as they outscored their last 14 opponents, 90-13.

"They're phenomenal," Chrisman said of the Non-Public powerhouse. "It's hard because you want to take it seriously, you know it's a big deal, but all of our goals were accomplished. We just tried to take it as we're going to come out here and have fun, play hard and try to play our game. 

"We gave them a lot of opportunities and we waited a little bit at times," Chrisman said. "We would make the first stop and then sort of look for the ball as opposed to attacking it. We were nervous, we were tense, didn't really know how to treat the game. We got on our heels and it took us a little while to get off our heels. I think we recovered and the girls showed their character and they fought back."

North's historic and run may be over, but the Lions have left a winning legacy for future teams to chase. For 12 seniors, including Anderson, winning Skyland Conference Raritan Division, HWS Tournament (first in program history) and sectional titles (North's first since 1993), along with a state championship was pretty unthinkable as freshmen back in 2018, considering the program had gone 18-126-6 in the eight previous years before a 4-14 campaign in '18. The 2019 season was a game-changer as North went 15-8 and reached its first sectional final since '93.

"I want to say we built something our sophomore year and built a family," Anderson said. "And then our junior year [11-3 in a pandemic-shortened campaign] was when we kicked it off a little bit more. We kind of upped our game. We knew coming into senior year we had something special.

"I don't think we thought we'd get this far. I think we thought we'd have a good season, but I don't think we ever thought we could accomplish even getting here. Even if it didn't work out in our favor, the fact that we made it here is a big win for us. It's a long season and you give what you have left. We did all we could do."

Oak Knoll (22-3)                            3           2          1         0           --    6
North Hunterdon (21-2)                1           0          0         1           --    2

Scoring

First quarter -- NH, Olivia Reeder, 10th, 9:09; OK, Laila Pasic, 11th, (Lea Good), 6:49; OK, Julia Ramsey, 23rd, 4:35; OK, Ramsey, 24th, (Darby Campbell), 2:23.

Second quarter -- OK, Ramsey, 25th, 13:03; OK, Good, 19th, (Emma Ramsey), 7:21.

Third quarter -- OK, J. Ramsey, 26th, 9:57.

Fourth quarter -- NH, Lauren Masters, 44th, (Sara Roberts), 11:43.

Shots -- Oak Knoll 14; North Hunterdon 6.

Saves -- Madeline Sepe 4 (OK); McKenna Laman 5, Katherine Hall 3 (NH).

Penalty corners -- Oak Knoll 23; North Hunterdon 6.