Zamek’s young squad still learning
By: John Beisser
It was a homecoming of sorts for Hillsborough High girls’ lacrosse coach Linda Zamek last Tuesday when her Raiders squared off against perennial Skyland Conference powerhouse Hunterdon Central.
Zamek teaches at Hunterdon Central and coached many of the Central varsity players when they were freshmen. This being the first year for the Hillsborough program on the varsity level, and only the second year of girls’ lacrosse at the school, it is not surprising that Central pulled off a convincing 15-6 win.
The Raiders were happy, however, to have hit the scoreboard six times, exceeding their pre-game goal of scoring four times. Going up against Central was also strange for first-year Raider assistant coach Dawn Peins, who also teaches at Hunterdon Central. Both Zamek and Peins are friends with Central head coach Mary Beth Driscoll.
"We all help each other out," Zamek said. "We are all in this together. We want the same thing to get this sport going. After the game, it was nice when we were shaking hands. Many of the Central players came over and said hi, so that was nice. There is no animosity at all between the programs. I think what this game did was show us what we’re lacking and where we have to improve."
Janet Henry scored two goals for Hillsborough vs. Central while single goals were scored by Katie DiGiovanni, Hayley Zamek, Kelly Chan and Lindsay Lamonica.
The loss to Hunterdon Central dropped the Raiders’ early season record to 0-2 as Hillsborough was outscored at Old Bridge 8-3 in the season opener. The goal-scorers for Hillsborough were Henry, Cheryl Bauer and Lauren Page.
Zamek had high praise for her goalie Kaitlin Everett, who directs traffic along the back line of the defense and who has been a real vocal leader for the Raiders.
"Kaitlin has been busy back there, that’s four sure," Zamek said. "She is doing a really nice job communicating with her teammates because she can see everything unfolding back there. We need some of our other players to communicate better and be more vocal so we are not relying so much on Kaitlin."
In the recent practice sessions, Coach Zamek has been stressing fundamentals. She couldn’t be more pleased with her team’s attitude and work ethic, but the Raiders are still making too many unforced mistakes.
"We are losing a little bit of focus on the basics," she said. "Our ground ball pickups have not been good and we’re not catching the ball good enough. Some of that I think will work it out with game experience. Some of the players are nervous out there and it shows. We have to get the butterflies out and get past that nervousness.
"But this team is always up and always receptive," Zamek added. "We know that this first varsity season is a learning year for us. We’re getting better and that’s the important thing."
The wet weather hasn’t helped matters. Hillsborough is still waiting to play its first-ever varsity home game after last Thursday’s home opener vs. Phillipsburg was rained out. The Raiders were looking forward to matching up against another team in its first year of varsity action.
This week, the Raiders were scheduled to meet Peddie on the road and play their first home game vs. Randolph on Tuesday before traveling to Montgomery on Thursday.