Field hockey: NH takes its best shot, wins G3 title

BORDENTOWN -- Talk about making the most of your opportunities.

North Hunterdon's field hockey team came up with a plan and executed it to perfection, scoring the game's lone goal off a first-quarter penalty corner and relying on rock-solid defense to secure the program's first state title with a 1-0 win over Moorestown in the Group 3 final on a rainy and cold Saturday afternoon at Bordentown Regional High School.

North celebrates Hunterdon County's first title since 1996.

"It's such an honor. It's awesome," said senior Katie Roberts, whose 11th goal of the season with 3:09 left on the clock in the first quarter was the game-winner. "The team is so connected and we all love each other so much. It's so amazing. I'm glad to be a part of this team and have this connection with these girls."

The Lions (21-1), who have won 13 straight and were coming off the school's first sectional title since 1993, kept a season filled with milestones marching on. First-year coach Geoff Chrisman's team drew the No. 2 seed and will host Oak Knoll in the Tournament of Champions semifinals on Wednesday. Eastern (Group 4 champion) is the top seed and will host the winner of Monday's play-in game between West Essex (Group 2) and Shore Regional (Group 1) in the other semifinal. The title game is set for 7 p.m. on Friday at Kean University.

"We're going to prepare like we normally do and just play our game," Roberts said of playing in the TOC. "And hope for the best."

North, which earned the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area's 13th state title and Hunterdon County's first since Hunterdon Central won the last of its three championships in 1996, got all the offense it needed when Roberts received the insertion pass from her sister, Sara Roberts, at the top of the circle and drilled it toward the left post. The ball deflected off Mooretown goalie Catherine Parker's pads and into the netting in the upper corner of the cage.   

"I thought Katie did a really good job. She had a really good shot," said senior Olivia Reeder, who spearheaded a strong effort in the midfield. "It was just a really good goal."

Turns out, that first corner play was by design -- and a new addition to the playbook.

"We changed some things up corner-wise coming into today," Chrisman said. "We knew that Moorestown was going to [see on film] that a million of our inserts went to Olivia so we made a specific plan that Katie was going to get the first insert on the first corner. I basically told her, 'Go have fun, take that first shot and do whatever you want to do, and she scored. Great planning on that one."

Moorestown (13-7-1), which has won 29 sectional and 18 state titles in its illustrious history, stayed on the attack late in the contest and drew four penalty corners in the final quarter of play. But North's defense, which was spectacular all day, held tough down the stretch, including a goal-saving stop by senior transfer Lily Kumar (a UPenn recruit) in the final minutes to give Hunterdon County its seventh championship (South Hunterdon won Group 1 titles in 1976, '84 and '88) and first in Group 3.

"Our defense is so good. They're always prepared. They always have their sticks down," Katie Roberts said. "They're just a great unit and they always show up when we need it."

"Massive. A million people stepping up and doing things, but that right at the end was huge," Chrisman said. "We made quite a few big plays in tight moments today, but that was probably the biggest."

Senior goalies Katherine Hall and McKenna Laman weren't very busy as a result of the wall in front of them, but they combined for three saves to secure the team's 10th shutout overall and its fourth in five games.

North is the first HWS area team to win a title since 2015.

"Our defense goes against our offense in practice every single day, so they know how to go against high-level attacks," Chrisman said. "Moorestown is a phenomenal program and we knew they were going to come at us hard. They kept the ball at our end of the field and our defense just did what they do every day at practice and played well."

North Hunterdon figured to have the edge on offense, having scored a total of 145 goals coming into the game compared to Moorestown's 74. This one turned out to be an epic defensive battle.

"We kind of expected it. We watched film and we knew they were a really good team," Reeder said. "We knew it was going to be one of our more defensive games this season. I thought it was a lot of fun playing someone as [tough] as a competitor as [Moorestown]."

"We all told each other to stay calm and play our game like we know how," Katie Roberts said. "Use our transfers and passes to get [the ball] outside enough to our forwards. I think we did a really good job of working as a team."

Chrisman wasn't surprised that it was such a low-scoring affair. The teams combined for just six shots-on-goal and Moorestown finished with a 9-1 edge in corners.

"I think I watched seven or eight games for Moorestown [on film] the last week. They have been playing so well defensively," Chrisman said. "[Senior Asha Madison] does such a phenomenal job of picking off anything that is not on someone's stick in the back that we knew they were going to be a really, really tough team defensively to deal with. Our offense got the one they needed to get and then we played team field hockey the whole time."

North Hunterdon (21-1)                 1           0          0         0           --    1
Moorestown (13-7-1)                      0           0          0         0           --    0

Scoring

First quarter -- NH, Katie Roberts, 11th, (Sara Roberts), 3:09.

Shots -- North Hunterdon 3; Moorestown 3.

Saves -- Katherine Hall 1, McKenna Laman 2 (NH); Catherine Parker 2 (M).

Penalty corners -- North Hunterdon 1; Moorestown 9.