Sayreville girls have solid season after a slow start Miss qualifying for state tournament

Sayreville girls have solid season after a slow start
Miss qualifying for state tournament
By warren rappleyea
Staff Writer

After a 1-5-1 start, things looked kind of bleak for the Sayreville War Memorial High School field hockey team, but the Bombers rebounded to go 6-3 over their final nine games.

The streak included a well-played 1-0 victory over Metuchen in the first round of last week’s Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament. Senior forward Laura Lasko scored her team-leading 11th goal, and Lisa Oriolo, another senior, earned her third shutout in goal to pace the win.

"It wasn’t looking good for us early in the season," coach Lynn Taylor said. "But the girls kept working, and they turned things around. We missed making the state tournament by one game, but we almost got back to .500 after a very bad start. I’m very proud of them because they would not quit."

The strong ending will give Sayreville’s young players a foundation to build upon next fall.

While the Bombers will lose several seniors to graduation, there are plenty of up-and-coming players in the program.

Key returnees will include juniors Kristen Akins and Melanie Zaleski, both forwards; midfielder Jamie Mazurowski, fullback Patti Norek; and goalie Nicole Vassallo. Several sophomores also made their marks this season.

They include forwards Katelynn Crosby, who scored three goals, Jessica Antonucci and Lynn Olender, as well as goalie Aimee Pitti, who played well for the junior varsity.

Sayreville’s junior varsity is coming off a fine 13-1-1 campaign, and Taylor said she expects several players to move up.

In addition, the Middle School field hockey program is continually improving, the coach noted.

Many of Sayreville’s juniors (next year’s team leaders) represent the first group of players to play at the middle school level.

"Our girls gained a lot of experience this year, and that should help us," Taylor said. "I think we’ll be a little stronger in the middle, and we’ll have some talented players moving up. I think we’ll be a much improved team."