Tartans end year with 18 wins
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Expectations are high every year for the Stuart Country Day School field hockey team. And the Tartans wouldn’t want it any other way.
But for as easily as winning has come for the program over the years, they never want to lose sight of their main mission.
”I want them to have fun,” Stuart coach Katie Grant said after the Tartans’ season ended with a 2-0 loss to Hopewell Valley in the Mercer County Tournament final on Wednesday. “I know it is hard to lose, but you need to have good sportsmanship and recognize what another team does. You need to be able to do both, be able to be the champs and also need to be good sports when you lose.
”Every year is different, even when you have a lot of players coming back. We had our ups and downs, but I hope they enjoyed the season and it was a positive experience for them.”
The Tartans lost in the semifinals of the state Prep A tournament to eventual champion Peddie, but bounced back to reach the MCT finals with a win over Notre Dame. On Wednesday, they just ran into a better team that day.
”I think we were playing on our heels a little bit the whole game,” Grant said. “I don’t think overall we played a bad game. I thought Hopewell played a good game and our girls were a little bit hesitant.
”I don’t usually notice the girls on the other team. But today they had a couple girls who really stood out to me on defense. They backed each other up well and that’s all it takes.”
Hopewell scored twice in the first half and the Tartans could never get their offense in full stride, finishing the season with an 18-6 record. Stuart will say goodbye to a talented senior class, which included 30-goal scorer Jackie Gaudioso Radvany, who finished with 100 goals for her career.
”All the seniors had a great four years here,” Grant said. “We made it to the championship game and that’s not easy to do back to back to back for however many years they did it. That’s a nice accomplishment and they should be proud.
”It’s my second year. Last year was so simple because everything just happened. It was hard. We lost a great group but we had a lot of good players back. I hope they enjoyed the experience.”

