RHS, NEHS hockey remains unbeaten

BY: Sean Moylan Sports Writer
    With a 1-0 win at Stuart Day School on Monday in Princeton, Robbinsville High cemented its ever-growing reputation as one of the finest field hockey squads in the CVC.
    “(Last year) they got us in double overtime during the MCT semi-finals. Any time that happens you are excited when you meet again,” noted Robbinsville head varsity field hockey coach Naoma Cordi, who is very proud of her Ravens.
    They say that great players step up in big games and the Ravens’ best offensive player Emilie Taylor certainly stepped in the Stuart game with a brilliant first-half goal.
    Then the Ravens’ defense and goalie Kellye Statz took over the game. Stuart out-shot Robbinsville, 12-6, but Statz made nine clutch saves to preserve the shutout victory over a private school with a storied history of playing sensational field hockey.
    However, the Stuart game was just one contest in an incredible week of games for the Ravens, who have rolled off five straight victories to start the season. At the pace they’re going, the Ravens could clinch a playoff spot by next week. But Cordi, a great coach, never lets her kids think that far ahead.
    Robbinsville started this latest run with a 2-0 victory at West Windsor-Plainsboro South last Tuesday. Christy Wham and Taylor each scored a goal for Robbinsville. Kaitlin Hill picked up an assist.
    “South was a big game for us this year because they gave us our first CVC loss last year early in the season. We knew that we had to be prepared and ready for a tough game. Our defense really kept us in on attack keeping the pressure on WW-PS. Dani Demkovitz and Nicole Matyas have really stepped up as senior defenders and allowed us to be really offensive this past week,” noted Cordi. Statz played very well and had 15 saves in the contest.
    As it turned out, Wham’s score against WW-PS was just a small sampling of what was to come. Playing on the beautiful turf field at Robbinsville on September 17, Wham, a player known more for playing extraordinary defense, erupted for four goals in the Ravens’ 5-1 triumph over the Northern Burlington Greyhounds.
    Wham, assisted by Jackie Sikora, scored her first goal at the 20:27 mark of the first half, then added another with 2:55 left in the opening half. Taylor, not only assisted on Wham’s second goal, but she fired in an unassisted goal herself 14 seconds later to give Robbinsville a commanding 3-0 lead going into the half.
    After Northern Burlington’s Michelle Smith scored early in the second half, Wham answered with two more goals which were both assisted by Taylor.
    “Wham, by far, had her best offensive game yet. She was in the right place at the right time with great opportunities from her teammates,” said Cordi.
    Robbinsville took 18 shots to NBC’s 14 shots. But the Ravens also held a 6-2 advantage over the Greyhounds on penalty corners. Statz and NBC’s goalie Kaylin Bassett each posted 13 saves in the game.
    “As a coaching staff we were well aware of what NBC was capable of last season (a Burlington County Liberty Division title), but not sure what to expect this year. The girls knew we were not going to be able to take chances and had to get on the board early. The entire team played well and really connected,” Cordi noted.
    Then last Friday, Sikora and Taylor put on another display of great field hockey in Robbinsville’s 2-1 home win over Steinert.
    Sikora struck first with a first-
half goal which was set up by a Wham pass.
    “Jackie (Sikora) played her best game of the season against Steinert. She has great placement on and off ball. Jackie is always available for a pass and always there to support her teammates around her,” said Cordi.
    In the second half, Emilie Taylor, with some help from her teammates, delivered a clutch goal for all the marbles.
    “The game winner was great to see and something we have been working at practice. Lauren Hunter was able to send a great shot in from outside of the circle — and Emilie came up big with a nice deflection in front of the cage,” said Cordi.
    Statz stopped five Spartan shots in the contest. Robbinsville shot seven times on goal. The Ravens also received some sparkling defense in the Steinert game.
    “Statz is holding her own inside of the circle. Statz, Demkovitz, Hunter and Matyas really have gelled together on our defensive end. Kellye is fun to watch in goal — we have a lot of trust in her and are expecting her to come up big in a lot of games,” remarked Cordi, whose team prepares for games one game at a time.
    Robbinsville has really beefed up its out-of-conference schedule this year and it is just one game away from the maximum amount of games it can play on its regular season schedule. But as we have witnessed already this season — the Ravens love a challenge.
    Robbinsville (5-0) was scheduled to have played a game at Notre Dame this past Tuesday. Robbinsville is scheduled to host West Windsor-Plainsboro North today (Thursday). Robbinsville is scheduled to host Peddie next Monday. It is scheduled at Lawrence next Wednesday.
    NEHS
    While she has played well all season long, senior forward Brandi Smith hadn’t recorded one of her patented great offensive games until she posted a hat trick in the New Egypt High field hockey team’s 7-0 win at home over Maple Shade on September 17th.
    “It was just a great game by Smith. She scored on a couple of rebound shots right off the (Maple Shade) goalie’s pads,” said Warriors’ coach Patti Nicholson.
    Smith was not the only Warrior to pop a goal through one of the holes in the Wildcats’ defense. It seemed as though all of the Warriors’ seniors shined as Lauren Seigelski fired in a goal and picked up an assist while fellow 12th graders Laura Sandford, Lyndsay Mann and Jesse Bernstein each tallied a goal. Kaci Hopkins, a fine senior defender, and sophomore midfielder Karly Ossowski each picked up an assist in the blowout win.
    “It was 3-0 in about five minutes and it was 5-0 at the half,” added Nicholson, who played her sophomores extended minutes in the second half.
    Katie Francis, the New Egypt goalie, picked up her easiest win of the season as she did not face a single clean shot on goal the entire game. Maple Shade’s M. Ketchen compiled 16 saves. Once the Warriors reached seven goals, Nicholson had her players switch entirely to a passing game.
    “My league (the Burlington County Freedom Division) won’t let us score more than seven goals so I had to have the girls play keep-
away for 25 minutes,” noted Nicholson, whose club followed all of her instructions to the letter.
    In what was a surprisingly difficult contest for the Warriors, New Egypt played Riverside to a 1-1 tie at Riverside last Friday.
    In fact, Bernstein had to score a nifty unassisted goal with 12:18 left in regulation just for New Egypt to escape Riverside with a tie.
    “Bernstein dribbled it across the circle and she shot it in,” said Nicholson. “We played a five-minute overtime, but we couldn’t score.”
    Although Robbinsville was playing the Riverside game without the services of three of its senior stars (Hopkins, Sandford and Mann), Nicholson thought her team was flat in general, except for three sophomores midfielders — Emily Bausher, Nicole Coyne and Ossowski.
    “Those three came to play!,” added Nicholson, who was looking for everyone to be back on track and prepared for yesterday’s (Wednesday) scheduled home game versus Florence.
    New Egypt (3-0-1) is scheduled to host Palmyra on Friday. New Egypt is scheduled at Montclair on Saturday and at Northern Burlington next Monday. Next Wednesday (October 10th), New Egypt is scheduled to host Burlington City.