Cardinals start showing strength

FIELD HOCKEY

By: Mike Molaro
   Familiarity, it’s been said, breeds success.
   The Lawrence High School field hockey squad is starting to embody that adage as its season heads down the stretch run.
   With three regular-season games remaining along with the Mercer County Tournament that begins on Oct. 21, the Cardinals (3-7-2) are starting to put the pieces together and forge their own identity.
   "It took awhile for the girls to mesh as a team," head coach Candace Mains said after Tuesday’s 1-1 tie at Hamilton. "We have a lot of young girls on the team and they never played together. Now we are sensing where each player is on the field and beginning to feel comfortable. I wish we had more games to play."
   Junior forward Maria Eldridge scored her sixth goal of the season against the Hornets while freshman midfielder Sarah Gilbert had an assist and junior goalie Lisa Tamulis had 10 saves in the Cardinal nets.
   "We wanted to end the game in the first over time," added Mains. "We usually do very well in overtime. When that didn’t happen, it was very frustrating. I can’t complain about this game. The girls played with their hearts and were out there fighting until the end."
   In Monday’s 1-1 tie against visiting Hun, Eldridge again put the Cardinals on the scoreboard off an assist from junior forward Melissa Casale. Tamulis turned aside eight Raider shots in a contest that featured two mirror-image teams.
   "It was a back-and-forth game," Mains said. "We didn’t have as many scoring opportunities as I had hoped. We dominated for most of the first half and they dominated for most of the second half. It was a game between two evenly-matched teams."
   Junior forward Amanda DeFiccio scored the lone Lawrence goal in a 5-1 setback to visiting Hightstown on Oct. 5 as Tamulis had 15 saves.
   "We never gave up in this game," added Mains. "Even when we were down 4-0 in the second half the girls were battling. They were giving their all until the very last second."
   The Cardinals, who surrendered their Colonial Valley Conference Colonial Division crown, still have the county tournament to make some noise and rattle some cages.
   "We lost eight seniors and that had a huge impact on us this season," Mains said. "We brought up a lot of girls from junior varsity and have three freshmen on varsity. We are definitely a young team. I wish the season was starting now. We are playing with much more confidence as a team and we are doing a lot of nice things on the field."
   NOTES: The Cardinals host Princeton this afternoon and visit Nottingham next Tuesday. They close out their regular season by hosting Hopewell Valley on Oct. 19 before the MCT begins two days later.