HVCHS seasl its wins

FIELD HOCKEY

By: Mike Molaro
   The Hopewell Valley Central High School field hockey squad wasn’t about to get complacent this season when it held a big lead entering the second half of a game.
   Head coach Jami Taranto knows that when overconfidence sets in, many times that lead evaporates and you find yourself trying to regain that passion.
   To prevent any type of meltdown, the Lady Bulldogs set things straight early on by coming up with a team motto that played huge dividends in last Saturday’s 6-0 domination of visiting South Brunswick. That victory followed a 2-0 triumph at Ewing on Oct. 5.
   "We call it ‘Seal the Deal,’" Taranto said about HoVal’s refusal to lay back. "We don’t want to sit on a lead. We don’t want to give an opponent a chance to come back. We want to keep scoring."
   With sophomore forward Alex Walker leading with the way with a pair of goals and junior forward Allie McGranaghan adding a goal and two assists, the Lady Bulldogs (7-4-1) scored three goals in each half against an overmatched South Brunswick unit that got the message first-hand that HoVal was sealing the deal.
   "We played a real good first half and everything fell into place," added Taranto. "I was happy for the girls to know how good it feels to play as a team."
   Junior forward Lena Klett and junior midfielder Grace Megaffin each had a goal and an assist, while senior midfielder Kaitlin Gregory scored a goal and senior goalie Rebecca Wood had seven saves for her second straight shutout.
   The offense is nice to see, especially with the county and state tournaments a few weeks away, but defensively HoVal has tightened the screws.
   "These back-to-back shutouts are huge," Taranto said. "We got stellar defensive efforts against Ewing and South Brunswick. That also takes a lot of pressure off Becca (Wood) and helps her overall game."
   Walker, who has been a solid addition at right wing, and McGranaghan each scored a goal and Wood turned aside five shots in the shutout over the physical Blue Devils.
   "We don’t look past any team," added Taranto. "Ewing is a tough team and there was a lot of pushing on the field. I’m very proud of our girls. They were determined to keep going and not get caught up in any foolish play. We didn’t sink to their level. We kept our heads and that was probably the best thing about this game."
   In Tuesday’s 4-0 loss at Stuart Country Day, Wood had nine saves in a game where HoVal may have been out hustled.
   "Stuart is a great team with a couple of girls who can control the game," Taranto said. "They had more passion than we did. They probably beat us to about 80 percent of the 50/50 balls. We played hard, but Stuart played better and the wanted the game more."
   NOTES: HoVal visits Robbinsville this afternoon and faces Allentown at Mercer County Community College next Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Lady Bulldogs close out their regular season on Oct. 19 at Lawrence. The Mercer County Tournament begins on Oct. 21 with the finals scheduled for Oct. 31 and the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III action begins on Nov. 1. If HoVal goes deep into the MCT, it’ll be a very busy next couple of weeks. "That’s a good challenge to have," added Taranto.