Radvany Gaudioso scores 100th in MCT win
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Jackie Gaudioso Radvany has scored 100 goals in her four-year Stuart Country Day School field hockey career.
Courtney Alexander hasn’t scored one in three seasons of varsity play.
There is only one goal that matters to the two of them now — winning the Mercer County Tournament. With Gaudioso Radvany’s milestone goal in a 1-0 win over Notre Dame in the MCT semifinals on Saturday, the Tartans will have that chance.
”It’s definitely exciting,” said Alexander, a midfielder. “There are 10 seniors on our team. It’s exciting for all of us.”
Stuart plays Hopewell Valley, a 1-0 winner over The Hun School in the other semifinal, as soon as Hopewell can fit it into a schedule that also includes the public state tournament. It will be the final scholastic game for Alexander, Gaudioso Radvany and the rest of the Stuart seniors, who have the chance to win a fourth straight county championship.
”That’s exciting,” Alexander said. “I think this is the first year we didn’t make it to the prep final, but we still have another championship to win.”
Stuart has been able to get over the disappointment of losing to eventual Prep A state champion Peddie in the semifinals Wednesday. They rebounded to beat Steinert, 1-0, in double overtime in the MCT quarterfinals Thursday on Kate Wiles’ second career goal.
Hun pulled the shocker of the MCT when it beat top-seeded Robbinsville in the quarterfinals Thursday, 2-1, in overtime on a goal by Jackie Evans. Addie Godfrey, who assisted on the game-winning goal, scored the Raiders’ only goal in regulation. Taylor Landis-Miller made 11 saves in the upset.
”I couldn’t have imagined it, not the way we started out our season,” said Hun head coach Kathy Quirk. “I think the win with Peddie was a nice turnaround for us. It gave us our confidence. We beat some good teams.”
The Raiders were looking for one more win, but a goal on a penalty stroke was the difference in a loss to Hopewell on Saturday.
”We weren’t the same team we were the other night,” Quirk said. “It was a game we should have won. I thought each team was evenly matched and they came out on top.”
Hun graduates three big seniors in Godfrey, Kara Colicchio and Vivi Washington from their 9-9-2 squad. They helped the Raiders finish the season strong by reaching the MCT semifinals.
”We have a good core coming back,” Quirk said. “I think we could be back here next year.”
Having topped second-seeded Notre Dame, third-seeded Stuart now takes its turn against No. 4 Hopewell Valley. They have not met this season.
”Against Hopewell, we need to come out strong in the beginning and keep up our intensity,” Alexander said.
The Tartans kept plugging away at the offensive end while controlling play against Notre Dame. Gaudioso Radvany finally broke through with a goal in the second half.
”Sometimes, we have problems just putting it in the goal,” Alexander said. “It’s sometimes hard for Jackie. She has two, sometimes three girls on her. That’s difficult.”
Her 100th career goal couldn’t have come at a better time. It sends Stuart into the MCT finals, where the Tartans will try to give their 10 seniors a championship send-off.
”I think it would be a nice sense of closure,” Alexander said. “Field hockey has been so much fun and every year has been so great. I love everybody on our team. We’re all ready to come out strong for our final game. We’ll be pretty upset when it’s over, but it would be pretty nice to win our last game.”

