By: Sean Moylan
The Northern Burlington County Regional High School field hockey team opened Monday’s playoff game at Hightstown with a 15-minute storm of offense, which was highlighted by a Rachel Pandl goal at the 23:01 mark of the first half. The Rams, however, weathered that initial storm and went on to beat the Greyhounds, 2-1, despite 16 penalty corners by NBC.
In recent weeks, Northern Burlington Coach Joanne Hensch had been deeply concerned about her squad’s inability to put in goals on penalty corners and that particular problem was probably the most telling factor in her team’s loss this past Monday.
"On corners we don’t insert the ball well to the top of the circle. And the top of the circle is our most dangerous position with Michelle (Smith) and Jess Ridolfino there," noted Hensch.
Moreover, Hightstown defense, led by Claire Bacola, kept NBC from even getting off shots on most of its corners.
Wasted was a fine game by Pandl, who scored on a scrum to the left side of the cage.
"Rachel Pandl played a real nice game," said Hensch. "Her goal was off an assist by Kreena Patel."
In the opening minutes of the game, Hightstown goalie Heidi Nicklaus stopped more than a few NBC scoring opportunities and Hensch believed her team should have been awarded a penalty stroke when Nicklaus covered the ball with her hand for a split second. But even after that play, NBC remained on the attack for several more minutes before Pandl’s goal. The Greyhounds had their chances to bombard the Rams with two or three goals early but didn’t. It would later come back to haunt them.
When The Greyhounds’ offense finally cooled down, Jessica Haughton and the Rams’ went on the attack. And with 18:03 to go in the first half, the CVC’s most dangerous scorer redirected a Caitlin Fallon pass into the NBC net to tie it. Hensch, however, questioned whether or not the goal should have counted.
"Their first goal hit off of one of my player’s faces. I lost a goal versus Pemberton because of that," noted Hensch.
The trouble was the play developed so quickly it was really hard to see. For the next several minutes, NBC’s defense took over. NBC goalie Kristen Holden stopped a back-handed shot by Haughton. And NBC devised other ways of stopping Haughton that seemed to work.
"Marie Worsham did a nice job. I had her play man-to-man on Jessica," said Hensch, who also double-teamed Haughton with Jess Ridolfino. Even so, Hensch thought her team gave up too much in the first half. "We didn’t do a good job of changing fields. We played to their strong side the entire first half."
Meanwhile Lauren Pigott did a good job of controlling the left wing position as she often took on several Hightstown players at a time and Smith was somehow able to deliver long hits on a very soft field. Jess Kotelnicki was making great plays all over the field too.
Early in the second half, Holden (11 saves) smothered a Haughton shot with her pads and then she stopped a Haughton breakaway up the middle. Those are the kind of plays which can change a game. However, it was not to be.
Hightstown’s Emily Ladd made a key steal to stop an NBC run and with 4:11 remaining in the game. Ellen Trast scored the game-winner off a rebound of a Haughton shot. There was little Holden could have done to stop it.
It was a weird game because even with all the penalty corners, NBC did not get off a clean shot the whole second half and it had taken just seven in the first stanza, most of which were during the early going. Hightstown recorded 16 shots. Depending on how one wanted to look at it, one could have made a decent case for either side dominating.
"I knew whoever got the last goal was going to be the winner," said Hensch. "We played a nice game. Their attack was faster than our attack, but our defense was better than their’s."
NBC was playing without 2 of its starters, Kylie Walton and Rachel Cannuli, who are still recovering from injuries suffered in a recent car accident.
NBC somehow made the playoffs after losing all of its starters from last year’s tremendous team except for superstar Danielle Terracciano and Holden. That’s a credit to Hensch. Not many coaches could have turned around a roster the way that she did this year. NBC played a very good game versus the best Hightstown team in years. There’s no shame in that.
BRHS
A few weeks ago, the Bordentown High School field hockey team started playing better but had little to show for it. Then as soon as super sophomore Tracey Romberger started to catch fire offensively, the ties and the wins started rolling in for Bordentown. And this past Monday, Bordentown ended the season well with a 2-0-win over Medford Tech.
"It was an okay game but not our best," said Donna Ingham, whose Scotties had tied Medford Tech in a previous game this season. Of course, Romberger tallied one of Bordentown’s goals in the win while Ashley Bow also had a score. Ashley Jaekel and Megan Moynihan each had assists for the Scotties.
In goal, Michele Van Mater made several stops to earn the shutout, which caused Ingham to note, "She’s doing a phenomenal job for us this year."
Last Friday Delran topped Bordentown, 3-1. Romberger scored a goal and Van Mater had another good game in goal. Over the past month both players have been very consistent.
Ingham has also been very happy with the play of junior defender Jess Bernard the entire season.
"Jess Bernard is like a wall back there," said Ingham. "I definitely felt like we did better than last year."
Last year Bordentown had just two wins. This season it won three, lost 10 and tied another five games, many of those ties it could have won with any luck. Ingham did a good job in her first season as head coach. Her team got better as the year progressed and that’s all one can ask.
FLORENCE
Many Group I teams would have cancelled a final game versus a big school like Cherry Hill West. But the Florence High School field hockey team is a tough squad which is willing to play any team. And even though Cherry Hill West defeated Florence 4-1 last Thursday, the Flashes took away some positives from the contest.
Freshman Brittany Hiros scored a big goal. She and fellow classmate Emily Million will certainly help Florence’s attack next season. Joelle Tolifero will also be expected to add extra offense. And with goalie Katelyn Dmitruck due back for her junior year, Florence should have a very good team.

