Higher seeds stop Hun, Stuart in states, PDS in MCT
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Higher seeds were tough to upset for three area prep field hockey teams Wednesday.
In the Prep A tournament semifinals, third-seeded and co-defending champion Stuart Country Day lost, 1-0, at second-seeded Peddie. The Tartans fell to 15-5.
”We played well,” said Stuart head coach Katie Grant, whose team had beaten Peddie, 1-0, in the regular season. “They scored two minutes into the game. Then we were in our attacking end a lot. It felt like we were down there 80 percent of the time. We just couldn’t finish. Hopefully they can bounce back here.”
Also in Prep A semifinal action, fourth-seeded Hun lost, 2-0, to top-seeded and co-defending champion Lawrenceville. The Raiders had been unbeaten in their previous seven games, since their last meeting against Lawrenceville.
”I was very proud of them,” said Hun head coach Kathy Quirk, whose team slipped to 8-6-2. “I told them we played well, we had our opportunities. Lawrenceville is like a monkey on our back. We just can’t seem to get them off. We get closer every time.”
Both Stuart and Hun still had the Mercer County Tournament left, both with games scheduled for Thursday night after deadline. Wednesday, No. 7 Princeton Day School lost, 5-2, to No. 2 Notre Dame in the MCT quarterfinals. Despite goals by Charlotte Lescroat and Allison Sorrentino, the loss ended the Panthers’ season at 7-11 and the careers of seven seniors.
”We lose seven starters,” said PDS head coach Jill Thomas. “That’d be the biggest thing, including the goalie and leading scorer. You lose a lot. We have nine freshmen. We’ll see where it goes.”
The Irish jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half. The Panthers came back to play an even 2-2 second half. PDS can hope to build on the strong second half as they look to next year.
”There’ll be a lot of rebuilding,” Thomas said. “They played great against Hun. Down the stretch, they played great against Hightstown. They played great in the midseason against Blair. We had a nice overtime win against Princeton.”
Stuart had needed overtime to beat Peddie in the regular season. This time, on Peddie’s grass field, an early goal was the only score of the game.
”We haven’t had much play on grass, so there were different conditions,” Grant said. “The defense did fine. It was the first two minutes, and that Nekole Jackson hit it and it went in.
”Of course the girls got a little frustrated toward the end, but they kept playing. We were making good passes and taking good shots. They didn’t stop playing.”
The Tartans just couldn’t get the equalizer to force overtime and another shot at the Prep A crown.
”It was really unfortunate,” Grant said. “I wish we had chance to play Lawrenceville again.”
Instead, the Tartans will focus on trying to defend their MCT crown. With a win Thursday, Stuart would play Notre Dame on Saturday in the semifinals. Hun, too, would play Saturday if they get by top-seeded Robbinsville on Thursday. The Raiders again gave Lawrenceville a challenge on Wednesday.
”We played a much better second game this time,” Quirk said. “This time, we had shots on goal which didn’t happen last time. We had our opportunities, we just couldn’t capitalize.”
Taylor Landis-Miller kept the Raiders in striking distance throughout the game with her play in goal. She stopped 20 shots, including a penalty stroke, but Hun couldn’t upset the Raiders at states to keep their streak going.
”We hadn’t lost a game since Lawrenceville,” Quirk said. “I think they’ve come a long way. It’s been a long season.”

