McCarty-Singleton finds moment
By: Justin Feil
Siobhan McCarty-Singleton started playing field hockey in middle school as a goalkeeper. She asked to play the field early in her freshman year, but might have needed some of that padding and gear after being mobbed by her teammates following Stuart’s 2-1 overtime win in the prep state championship Sunday.
"I have so many bruises," said the Tartan senior. "It’s definitely worth it though. They’re battle scars, I guess."
McCarty-Singleton factored prominently in two battles that Tartans won to claim their first state title since 1999. Friday, after trailing for most of the second half, 1-0, against two-time defending champion Hun one of just two teams to top Stuart this season McCarty-Singleton knocked in the tying goal with just 46 seconds remaining to send it into overtime and preserve the Tartans’ title hopes.
Sunday, Stuart was tied with Peddie, 1-1, when McCarty-Singleton pounced on a loose ball and tapped it into the cage to set off a wild celebration that included an all-out scrum that she was crushed under, plenty of tears of joy and hugs to go with them and a team singing of Kelly Clarkson’s "A Moment Like This."
"I have that song stuck in my head," McCarty-Singleton said. "I can’t get it out."
She might have a lot of difficulty getting two brand-new moments out of her head. She scored five goals this season. She scored the game-winner against Hun in the regular season last year. Nothing, however, compares to the two that gave the Tartans the prep state field hockey championship.
Siobhan McCarty-Singleton is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
"She’s come from nowhere at times," said Stuart head coach Missy Bruvick. "Against Hun, we had a time out in the last six minutes and we just said to play with urgency and push up and storm the circle. She got it going straight at the circle. Then she got the one against Peddie. It was just brute hustle."
Bruvick has been thrilled by McCarty-Singleton’s year-by-year development. After coming out of the goal, the Plainsboro resident was better able to use the speed that has made her a star for the Tartan track team and better utilized her field skills she acquired playing soccer for the Somerset Sensations club team.
"In the middle of my freshman year I came to Coach Bruvick and said that I didn’t really want to play keeper," McCarty-Singleton said. "Once I got out on the field, I loved it. I’ve been playing soccer for 12 years and I really wanted to run."
Bruvick loved the speed that McCarty-Singleton brought to the midfield. It allowed her to push up on offense more and still get back on defense.
"For the last two years, she’s played left link," Bruvick said. "She has amazing speed. She has so much speed that she covers from the left side to the right center because we don’t have a center mid. On all offensive plays, we bring her into the circle because we know she can recover. She makes incredible recovery runs to slow the ball down."
While she also helped slow the quick Peddie attack Sunday, it was McCarty-Singleton’s runs into the offensive circle, however, that pushed Stuart to the title. After a Falcon player made the initial save, McCarty-Singleton was there to knock in the crown-clincher.
"I don’t remember much of it," she said. "Everything was a big blur. I remember rushing the goalie’s pads and the post and I just dove for the ball. Then Kelly (Fitzpatrick) and I were on the bottom. I was saying that I couldn’t breathe. We had said that when she scored the game-winner against Hun (Friday).
"Those are the biggest goals I’ve ever scored. I haven’t scored a lot of goals in my career. This year I got a couple. Probably last year’s against Hun was the biggest before just because Hun and Lawrenceville are our biggest rivals. Most of my goals have been off deflections or rushing the post."
Bruvick has seen a different player, a better player, with each season that McCarty-Singleton has played. It doesn’t surprise her because she’s such a good athlete. On top of club soccer, school field hockey and track, she skates for the school ice hockey team as well.
"Each year she gained a lot of confidence," Bruvick said of McCarty-Singleton’s field hockey development. "You could see a big difference this year in her confidence level and her leadership level. She played well all year. And her skills improved every year."
It came to a perfect ending when she scored the biggest goals of her career in the state semifinal and final. And as she looks to continue her athletic career in college, she’s happily packing her surprising success.
"I had never considered playing field hockey," she said. "I’m a soccer player and look what happened. I’m hoping I can play soccer. I’ll definitely look to run track. I never felt I was a true field hockey player. I can’t believe this."