By Sean Richards, Sports Writer
It’s official!
The Monroe Township High School field hockey team is the regular-season champion of the Greater Middlesex Conference and, at no risk of engaging in hyperbole, has produced one of the most amazing and sudden turnarounds in the annals of local sports.
Consider a year ago Monroe won only four games and had trouble even scoring a goal for vast stretches of the season. Consider the Monroe field hockey program has traditionally been a losing one and the team hadn’t won a title in 35 years.
Following a 2-0 win over East Brunswick last Friday and an even more convincing 5-0 thumping of South Brunswick on Monday, Monroe is now 10-1-2 with the GMC title all locked up. What’s more, the team has the leading scorer in the county in junior Nicole Manziano and has been rattling the back of the cage at a rate rarely seen in this sport.
How is this possible?
Well, there’s really no simple answer, but rather a combination of a whole host of factors that have all come together in Monroe’s favor. In that list are coaching, confidence and, of course, a big upgrade in talent.
”I knew this was going to be a good season, but I certainly wouldn’t have predicted something like this,” said coach Virginia Gonzalez. “Last year we lost 11 games by one goal and eight of those games were in overtime. Once these girls got a taste of it (winning), they didn’t want it to stop.”
Echoed Manziano: “I didn’t see this coming, but I just knew in my heart it would be a big turnaround. I knew who was coming up to the team.”
Although the Falcons figured to be improved this year – after all, it would be difficult not to be – it also is a team with just one senior (Katherine Lepri) in its lineup. Furthermore, most programs reach the championship level by building up over a few years.
Not these girls. It started right away when Monroe beat South Plainfield for the first time ever in the opening game of the season. Since then the team has just gotten stronger and stronger, witness the recent destruction of a South Brunswick squad that had held the Falcons to a scoreless draw just a couple of weeks ago.
”When we beat them (South Plainfield) it made me start thinking,” said Gonzalez. “After we played all the (GMC) teams for the first time, I knew there was the possibility of this kind of season. I kept telling the girls we’re not going to take anyone lightly. I kept saying we’re not going to let up no matter who we play. When we started winning I think they bought in to what I was saying.”
Obviously, the entire team got the message. While Manziano leads all GMC scorers with 10 goals and 17 assists, the Falcons have gotten huge contributions from up and down the lineup and clutch goals from a wide variety of players. This is reflected in the fact that Monroe currently has five of the top 20 scoring leaders in the county (as of Tuesday).
Credit the feeder program on the junior high level that began four years ago. Also credit an influx of some of the top athletes in the school.
”The feeder system really improved our program,” said Gonzalez, who is in her fourth year as head coach. “When I first started we had to spend a lot of time just on the fundamentals. Now these girls not only know the game when they get in the program, but we’re getting year-round athletes. It really makes a difference.”
Not to be overlooked is the coaching of Gonzalez. When the team struggled the last few years she remained upbeat, confident it could all be turned around. Gonzalez also has a deep background in the sport, having played for Twin Valley High in Pennsylvania, Temple University and the Puerto Rico national team.
”She has been great,” said Manziano. “She’s great at keeping our spirits up and keeping us focused. She’s always giving us pep talks and telling us what a great job we’re doing. She really makes you want to be part of the team and do your best.”
Along with being a team comes teamwork. This isn’t about a few superior players carrying the team with great individual efforts. You can just see the understanding between the players growing with each passing game.
”Everybody knows what everyone else is doing,” confirmed Manziano. “We know where each other are going to be and where to go. It’s great because it’s different people every game. “We’re all connected. We get on each other’s nerves now and then, but we always let that go right away. We’re having a lot of fun out there.”
And why not?
Last year Monroe averaged four shots a game. Now it’s averaging 20. Last year just scoring a goal was considered a minor victory. Now the goals come so fast the stunned opposition must be wondering who are these girls.
They’re the championship Monroe field hockey team. And with all but one player returning next year there’s no signs of the success stopping.
NOTES: In the win over South Brunswick, the Falcons got two goals from Manziano and one apiece by Courtney Baron, Morgan Widener and Justina Kupczak. The victory over East Brunswick featured goals by Kupczak and Baron. As of earlier in the week, Monroe was tentatively scheduled to open GMC Tourney play at home today (Friday), probably against Piscataway. The state tournament pairings were also to have been released this week with Monroe sure to get a very high seed in the Central Jersey Group III bracket. The state tourney gets underway next week.
