Lawrence field hockey
By: John E. Powers
The top priority for Candace Mains in her first year as head coach of the Lawrence High School field hockey team was restoring stability to the Cardinals. She and her team did that and a lot more.
The Cardinals won the Colonial Valley Conference Colonial Division, qualified for the North Jersey, Section 1-2, Group IV playoffs, won a road tournament game at Old Bridge, and finished the season with a 10-8 overall record 8-3 in divisional play.
"We turned it around big time," Mains said. "We had a very successful season. It was a great year, and I loved working with the girls, and winning helps."
The Cardinals were 6-9-2 overall and 4-5-2 in divisional play last season. They scored just 24 goals, but came up with 35 this year.
Senior forward Amy Wham, who had five goals and five assists last year, led the way with 13 goals and eight assists. Sophomore Melissa Casale had 10 goals and three assists, sophomore Maria Eldridge had nine goals and two assists, senior Mary Giardinelli had two goals and four assists, and sophomore sweeper Amanda Sawasky notched a goal and two assists.
"We took 167 shots on goal and had 35 goals, so looking at that, we turned it around," said Mains, who replaced Melissa Hanford as head coach. "Amy was a key to motivating them. She led on the field and proved that it could be done."
The Cardinals also improved on defense. Senior goalie Christa Strobino faced 162 shots, making 137 saves. The team’s goals against was reduced by nine. The senior backline of Sara Agnello, Cassie Tomsho and Ashley Reeves were outstanding, the coach said.
"We lose our whole back line, but they did a great job this year, just working together and marking, marking, marking, marking they were great back there with Christa," said Mains, a graduate of Bordentown High School and West Chester State University, now a special education teacher at Lawrence High.
Mains said a big change in the team came when she moved Sawasky from the midfield to sweeper.
"That’s when things changed to have that extra person back there, she was key defensively," Mains said.
Mains said that the teams’ relationship off the field also led to the turnaround.
"I was told that they always seemed to be against each other last year," said Mains, who was the program’s junior varsity coach last year. "The offense was against the defense, that kind of thing. The most important thing was that the teamwork concept changed."
With Casale and Eldridge returning next year, the Cardinals should be in good shape to continue their success.
"Our seniors are going to be hard to replace," she said. "They were an important part on the field, especially on the defense. Hopefully, we can pull some people up from the junior varsity and be successful again."

