Florence, Bordentown hockey prep for states

By: Sean Moylan Sports Writer
    Since her Scotties haven’t played a game since tying Burlington City 2-2 on the road last Friday, Bordentown Regional High varsity field hockey head coach Kim Fithen had no complaints about having to play an early playoff game this season.
    Bordentown (seeded seventh) is scheduled to host Saint Rose (seeded 10th) in its NJSIAA Group 1 Central Jersey opener this Friday.
    “I’m glad we don’t have a bye this Friday,” said Fithen, who knows that too much rest in field hockey is usually not a good thing. “And it’s always nice not to travel.”
    Bordentown finished the regular season with an 8-6-4 record and there were both good and bad moments in the tie game against the Blue Devils last Friday.
    One of the better moments was when Kathleen Timm scored off a Meaghan Tohill pass to knot the score at 1-1 in the second half.
    “Kathleen Timm dove for the ball. It was a very pretty, pretty goal,” said Fithen. “Right now we’re not playing at the top of our game but we’re not playing poorly either.”
    After Burlington City scored a goal to go ahead 2-1, Scotties’ star Tracy Romberger fired in the equalizer and the score stayed 2-2 throughout the overtime. Bordentown’s goalie Ashley Adams had six saves.
    “We out-played them. We out- cornered them. We just did not finish around the goal,” said Fithen.
    The stats were not in Bordentown’s favor in the October 22 night game versus Northern Burlington. Nevertheless, the Scotties worked very hard to play the Greyhounds to a 0-0 tie.
    “I actually was not there for that game, but my assistant said that my girls played hard for us and that it was a good defensive game,” said Fithen, whose club was out shot 22 to 1.
    Adams had to make 22 saves just to keep it a tie. And the Scotties were out-corned too.
    “They (the Greyhounds) sent off 16 corners. When you give up a lot of corners it’s gut check time,” said Fithen, whose players exhibited great mental and physical toughness versus their local rivals from NBC. That toughness should help them in Friday’s playoff game.
    FLORENCE
    The Florence Township Memorial High varsity field hockey squad qualified for the NJSIAA Group I Central Jersey playoffs. But as the fifth seed, the Flashes (10-5-1) earned a first-round bye and will open the playoffs at Moorestown Friends (seeded 4th) on Tuesday.
    To keep sharp, Florence scheduled a home game versus Audubon for today (Thursday).
    Despite a goal by Dezarae Fillmyer, which was assisted by Sarah Muchowski, Florence lost a 3-1 decision to Holy Cross at on October 22. Katie Dmitruck, the Flashes’ goalie, made 11 saves.
    Last Friday Cinnaminson hosted and edged Florence, 1-0, on Tina McGugan’s first-half goal off a penalty stroke. Dmitruck kept it close with 15 saves.
    NBC
    In many ways the Northern Burlington County Regional High varsity field hockey’s night game versus Bordentown at Mercer County Community College on October 22 played out like a microcosm of the entire season. NBC played sharp defense and had several opportunities to score on offense. However in the end, the Greyhounds and the Scotties finished the evening in a 0-0 scoreless deadlock. For whatever reason, Northern Burlington has just had trouble finishing this season and that, perhaps more than anything, cost it a berth in the state tournament.
    “We had 22 shots on goal and they had one and we had 16 corners,” said Northern Burlington coach Joanne Hensch.
    Despite the final score, it was a joyous night for a close-knit NBC group because it was Senior Night.
    “It was a fun week for the girls,” noted Hensch, who enjoys coaching this current group of players very much. “It was a very exciting evening. The seniors were introduced along with their parents and we introduced the 12th graders from Bordentown too.”
    The Greyhound juniors presented the seniors with special collages. The night was so successful that NBC plans on holding the event next year at MCCC too.
    Northern Burlington’s senior goalie Kaylin Bassett, who has had an outstanding season, had to set aside just one shot to preserve the shutout. Ashley Kendall earned the team’s Defensive Award in the Bordentown game while Lauren Pigott picked up the Hustle Award and Jess Kotelnicki took home the Attack Award.
    “The last couple of weeks Jess Kotelnicki has really played well. She did a good job of dodging in the Bordentown game,” said Hensch.
    Then last Thursday NBC’s offense finally came alive as it blasted Palmyra 4-0 at Palmyra.
    “The first 15 minutes was a big adjustment for us going from turf to one of the (poorer) fields in the league,” said Hensch, whose players found their footing and went on to blow the Panthers away.
    Once NBC got going Pigott, Erica Harding, Carli DiCioccio and Rachel Pandl all fired in goals for the victors. Harding was so explosive she earned the Attack Award while Kotelnicki won the Hustle Award and Stephanie Bouchelle earned the Defensive Player of the Game honors. Bassett had yet another strong game in goal to earn the shutout.
    As of Tuesday, Northern Burlington (7-9-2) still has a shot at finishing the season at .500. NBC was scheduled to played a game at Collingswood yesterday (Wednesday). Northern Burlington is scheduled to wrap up its season with a home game versus Egg Harbor Township today (Thursday).