By: Sean Richards
You can just sense the anticipation surging and excitement growing with the Monroe High School field hockey program.
When Monroe added a feeder program on the middle school level a couple of years ago, it was only a matter of time until it started paying dividends on the high school team.
That time has come.
"Overall, this is definitely the most talented group of players I’ve coached," said fourth-year mentor Virginia Gonzalez. "The programs for the younger players have made a big difference."
Monroe was 4-12-1 last year, but keep in mind that eight of those losses were by a single goal. The team lost a lot to graduation as well, but there are a bunch of promising young players just itching to make an impact.
Returning forwards are senior Kelly Campbell and sophomore Nicole Manziano, who received all-Greater Middlesex Conference honors last year.
Returning in the midfield are senior Meghan Stark and sophomore Justin Kupczak, another honorable mention pick on the all-Greater Middlesex Conference team.
In keeping with Monroe’s youth movement, other forwards include sophomores Katie Lepri, Margaret Nawracaj and Megan Denehey.
Seniors Ashley Henriquez, Rua Zhang and Sara Hussain, as well as sophomore Saahithi Karaturi, are among the other backs. Henriquez is actually an experienced varsity player who missed her junior year after breaking her wrist during the pre-season.
The goalie position will be handled by a pair of seniors in Shannon Weber and Chrissie Mucciollo.
"We’re aiming for a .500 season," said Gonzalez. "If we can do that we can qualify for states, which is something we haven’t done in my four years here."
Although Monroe still has some building to do to catch up to traditional GMC powers such as East Brunswick and South Plainfield, the Falcons are getting serious about hockey.
Manziano and Karaturi, for instance, are also part of the Futures Program.
"We’ve also added a rec league that is helping as well," said Gonzalez. "In the past we used to get freshmen into the program who might have been cut by the soccer team and who really hadn’t seen a hockey stick before.
"The players we’re getting now have a much better background in field hockey. They’re specializing in this sport."
The season was scheduled to begin Wednesday with a home game against Hightstown. Monroe was also scheduled to play South Plainfield on the road today (Friday) and host Montgomery Saturday.

