Wins keep adding up for field hockey

While most coaches may get nervous in close games, Heidi Zeigler is more likely to feel a sense of déjà vu.

By: Kyle Moylan
   While most coaches may get nervous in close games, Heidi Zeigler is much more likely to just feel a sense of déjà vu.
   "You never feel totally comfortable, but I guess I should be," Zeigler noted. "Those 1-0 games are the story of our lives."
   The Allentown High School field hockey team has developed a knack for winning the close games. At 11-2, Allentown has, obviously, won almost every games it has played. However, it has been especially tough in the toughest situations.
   Allentown’s two losses were not close games. Overtime. 1-0. 2-1. Those are Allentown wins. And as the old adage goes, "the good teams win the close games."
   "We’re 11-2," Zeigler noted. "You can’t complain about that."
   Allentown presented its 11-2 record to the seeding committee for the upcoming state tournament. As long as it keeps winning, Allentown should have a couple of games in the playoffs. And Allentown should be a team ready for the post-season because it has done such a good job of thriving in stressful situations.
   Allentown had two more close, stressful games this past week. It won both of them 1-0. Back on Tuesday, October 16, Ewing was the victim of Ali Van Horn’s score.
   The Ewing game was one in which Allentown dominated the play on the field, though. It outshot Ewing, 13-2. Juliana Mozulay only had to make two saves to record the shutout in goal. Last Friday’s game at Hightstown was a different story.
   The Hightstown-Allentown game was a fairly evenly played contest. Hightstown controlled the open 10 minutes or so of each half. Then Allentown took over.
   "The first 10 minutes of the game we didn’t come out at all," Zeigler noted. "We were kind of dead."
   What turned the game around was a hustling play by Christie Najecki, who chased down a loose ball out by the circle. She then turned and shot the ball back toward the goal. Emily Valko was in the right spot and she deflected ball past Hightstown goalie Kristen Ewer for the lone goal of the match.
   "She’s (Najecki) a frisky player," Zeigler said. "She’s very fast. She’s all over the place."
   Najecki scored with 11:13 to go in the first half. Mozulay held on to that lead through the rest of the first half. In the second half, Zeigler called upon Margaret Ryan to play goal.
   As it had in the first half, Hightstown came right out with its best play, most pressure. Only a couple of minutes in, Justine Postorino fired a long powerful shot that Ryan cleared with a kick save. Ryan also managed a beautiful kick save off of a shot by Becky McBride with three minutes left in the contest.
   "I’m just trying to get my sophomore goalie (Ryan) some playing experience," Ryan said. "I don’t do that too often, but she’s definitely good. She’s not afraid to go after the ball."
   Heck, the way Allentown has played this season, no one on the team should be afraid of anything to do with field hockey.
   "Our goal this season was to just do the best we could," Zeigler said.
   Of course, Zeigler was hoping her team’s "best" was good enough to produce a lot of wins. It has. And now that those wins are official, it doesn’t matter what the score was. Allentown has made the state playoffs. It will get home playoff games. It controls the Valley Division. Make no mistake about its: Zeigler has asked her team repeatedly to find ways to score more goals. And her team has repeatedly given Zeigler what she really wanted instead.
   "We didn’t say we wanted to win the Valley Division and get some home field games in the playoffs, but that’s what we wanted to do."