By: Carolyn M. Hartko
Improvement, friendship, team spirit and fun were the qualities that marked the still young field hockey program at South Brunswick High School this past fall. After two winless seasons, the Lady Viking varsity squad finally put some checks in the "W" column, finishing up 2-13-1.
The biggest highlight of 2004 was, of course, earning the first varsity victory in school history, and the Vikings did it in style. Senior Marissa Mangual knocked in the game-winner at Piscataway with seconds left on the clock in the second overtime period. South also beat Piscataway the second time through the schedule, and tied Monroe in the season opener.
"The overtime goal that Marissa had was amazing," Katie Vetere said. "That was our first significant goal that won a game. That was awesome."
South Brunswick also managed to close the gap against adversaries that had walked away with blow-out victories in 2002 and 2003. Eight of the Vikings’ 13 losses were by a single goal this year. This meant a dramatic shift in the goals scored/goals allowed ratio. In the first year of varsity play, it was 0-70, and last year, it was 4-54. This year, the Vikings scored six, and gave up 33.
"This whole season was just such an improvement from last year," Abby Dredge, one of the team’s five senior captains, said. "It was just amazing how much we improved. I think we lost stamina halfway through the season. But we’re still pretty satisfied with the outcome."
It was important to the 12 seniors who are graduating in June to get that first win while they were still with the team. Although four in that group were first-year players, several have been with the program since their freshman year, when South Brunswick only fielded a club team.
Starting midfielders Mangual and Vetere are in the latter group, and both became captains. Dredge, who started at forward, is a three-year letter winner. The other two captains are both two-year varsity players. Kristen Majewski, a starting forward, also plays lacrosse for the Vikings, and starting defender Kristen Bondi has one year of lacrosse to her credit so far. The latter missed last year because of a torn ACL, but was ready for action again this fall.
"I loved being a captain," Bondi said. "I love that team. And after last year not being able to play, still being captain this year was awesome. I’m really going to miss the team next year."
This is the time of year when high school seniors start their college search, and the five captains have been busy. No one is thinking of pursuing a varsity sport in college, but they are all hoping to continue playing field hockey with an intramural or club team.
Next year, the Vikings will be scattered up and down the East Coast, from Florida State to the University of Massachusetts. They will take on traditional careers like teaching and journalism. But at least one senior is planning on blazing a trail, just like she did in helping to start the SBHS field hockey program.
"I’ve been singing as long as I can remember, and I’m also very interested in psychology," Mangual said. "I was looking into it, and I discovered music therapy, which is like psychology through music. You can be a teacher, or go to hospitals and help the disabled. The field isn’t that common, but it’s growing. It’s something that I’m really interested in using my voice to help other people."
When the girls graduate, their memories of high school field hockey will go with them.
"I think, more than anything, I’ll remember this team, because it was just really unified and we were all really in it together," Majewski said. "And I think that making these friendships really is going to stick with me, and all the hard work that everybody put into it."
While friendships and teammates topped the list of favorite memories, there were a few mentions specific to something that happened this year.
"(Head) Coach (Danielle) Matlack died her hair pink after our first win," Vetere said. "That will be kind of a cool story to tell."
"Coach Matlack has just been such an awesome coach and an awesome person to work with and play under," Bondi added. "A lot of the girls come back, after they graduate, to see her, and I know I’m going to be doing that. The whole experience with her has just been such a blast."
Team spirit was another quality that the fledgling program had in abundance.
"I’ll remember how much heart the team had," Dredge said. "We never let the losses get us down. We were very resilient. And Coach Matlack is an awesome coach. She never got frustrated with us. And with a team that had our kind of record, I give her a lot of credit for staying so calm and always supporting us."
Also graduating this year are Chelsea Denton (defense), Ginelle Gutierrez (forward), Maggie Shinder (defense), Carly Toth (midfield), Sanam Ghanchi (defense), Liz Sztyk (midfield) and Lasondra Garcia (forward).
The departure of this many players could spell trouble in a smaller school. However, with 55 girls currently on the three high school squads, and a new program started at the middle school this year, Matlack is sure that there will be people ready to step up to varsity next fall.
The returning juniors will take over the leadership positions, on and off the field. Goalie Alicia Langone (86 percent save ratio) was named to the all conference team. Sweeper Megan Rodriguez received honorable mention in the Greater Middlesex Conference. Midfielder Jackie Nimon is a proven scorer, and defenders Jackie Abdalla and Sara Steepy are also expected back.
Sophomore Courtney Stephens led the offense this fall with two goals and one assist. The other 10th- graders on the varsity were Samantha Cohen (midfield) and backup goalie Marci Winiarz. Forward Jen Sisco was the only freshman on the varsity.
Though a lot of the same players will be back, the overall look of the team will be different.
"We’ll move some people around," Matlack said. "Instead of the outside midfield, we’ll put them in the middle, and have them control the game a little bit more. And the girls did get some experience doing that this year."
The class of 2005 will be back to make sure their successors hold up the tradition of spirit and hard work that has characterized the program so far.
"We didn’t have the best team, but we definitely had the most fun out of all the teams in the county," Vetere said. "We were always really spirited, always willing to go out there and give it our best shot."
THROW-INS: In the second year of operation, the Viking freshman team had a winning season under the coaching of Melissa Bonstead . . . The JV team continued to show progress with coach Lisa Ripa
