Florence, NBC field hockey squads stopped in playoffs

By: Sean Moylan
  The Florence High School field hockey team won at Henry Hudson, 1-0, in a Central Jersey Group I battle last Thursday on a first-half goal by Rebecca Wright, assisted by Cheryl Jiras.
   "It was a beautiful goal," said Coach Gina Smith, whose team protected that lead with all it had.
   Tiffany Golab, Florence’s sensational senior goalie, made 17 saves to preserve the victory. Smith called it a great win. It was the kind of win which could have ignited a championship run. But the Flashes’ next opponent was New Egypt.
   The Flashes battled and battled in Monday’s semi-final contest played at New Egypt, but the Warriors still came away with a one-sided 6-0 victory.
   "I pulled out every punch possible, but player for player they were better than us," said Smith. "It’s frustrating and it’s something we can’t control. We just have to learn how to beat them."
   Golab is so good she made 15 saves to keep the game from ever getting way out hand.
   "Tiffany (Golab) did well, but there was not much she could do against them," said Smith, whose team improved upon two previous meetings against the Warriors this season.
   "We cut their shots (23) in half and we cut their defensive corners."
   Brianna Campbell came in for an injured Wright and she just missed scoring a goal for Florence, which took five shots on goal. Yet the Flashes are not going to let one game destroy what was otherwise a great 10-7-1 year.
   "When you think about the whole season (starting with the Florida trip) and how that South Hunterdon game was thrown at us before the cutoff. It’s amazing," reflected Smith, who will miss all her seniors, especially Golab, Nicole Tully, Noran Onal and Diana Riker. Golab was the area’s hardest working goalie as she saw 267 shots and made saves on 231 of them. She also had five shutouts. While it will be difficult to replace her and Tully, Smith likes her young players.
   "Our future looks bright," said Smith with enthusiasm. Hopefully that future will include some wins over New Egypt.
   
NBC
   Although it had not been in the playoffs for a couple of years, the Northern Burlington County Regional High School field hockey team did not go into last Friday’s Central Jersey Group III home game versus Moorestown with the intent of just giving a good effort. The Greyhounds were there to win.
   That is why the Quakers 5-2, come-from-behind victory over the Greyhounds stung so hard and produced sleepless nights for the NBC coaches and players alike.
   "The girls were upset because they weren’t ready for it to be over. I didn’t want it to be over. I didn’t want this season to end," said NBC Coach Joanne Hensch.
   For the entire first half and seven or eight minutes of the second half, it appeared that the Greyhounds’ dream season would not end until they came home with some sort of championship.
   First, NBC’s Alyssa Pigott score her 17th goal of the season in a first half that ended in a 1-1 tie.
   "Alyssa Pigott scored off a cross by Kylie Walton with 20 minutes left on the first-half clock," said Hensch.
   Seven minutes into the second stanza, Alayna Morris (12 goals for the season) scored when she beat Moorestown’s goalie in a one-on-one situation. Then things started to come apart for the Greyhounds. Chelsey Stevenson, whose dynamic work ethic helped to redefine the true meaning of Hensch’s Hustle Player of the Game Award this season, began cramping up. But Hensch couldn’t take her out because she was still playing at a higher level than many of the players on the field. Soon, Moorestown had tied the game and then the experienced Quakers took over the contest.
   "Up until the time of Morris’ goal we were always one step ahead of them. But after Moorestown went one goal ahead, it played like it wanted it more," said Hensch.
   Kristen Holden, NBC’s fine junior goalie, stayed sharp throughout stopping 10 of the Quakers’ 15 shots to earn Defensive Player of the Game honors. And Pigott was the official offensive star of the game. Amazingly, Pigott and Morris were lacrosse players that Hensch converted into superstar field players only this year. Danielle Terracciano was also a big time offensive player with a dozen goals. Jamie Harris has stood out on defense all year and Wallton came on strong in the second half of the season. And of course Stevenson is just an unselfish, great player.
   NBC was 12-5-2 this year, which was far better than last year’s 6-10-4 mark. The team made the state tournament with a better record than Moorestown and it earned the respect of all fans of NBC sports with its hard-nosed play. Following the contest the club had its annual senior walk. The team will look much different next year without those 10 seniors on the roster.
   "We had a big crowd at the game of administrators and students," noted Hensch, who appreciated the support. "I looked forward to coming to school every day because of field hockey. I’m going to miss this nice group of girls. It was a ride I wasn’t ready to get off. But it was a great ride."