By David Gurney, Sports Writer
There’s a very thin line between winning and losing.
That especially holds true in girls field hockey.
Take the South Brunswick High School field hockey team as exhibit A.
Yes, the Vikings finished a very disappointing 4-11-1, bowed out early in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament and failed to reach the state tournament once again.
But of those 11 losses, seven were by a mere one goal.
In the GMCT first round, the No. 5-seeded Vikings fell 3-2 in overtime to Sayreville, a game in which a dramatic second-half goal by Kristin Zollo tied the game up and sent it to the extra session.
For SBHS, it was oh so close, yet oh so far.
”It was not a very good season,” head coach Danielle Matlack said. “We were very disappointed, frustrated. We just don’t know how to win. In a lot of those one-goal losses we were up and lost the game.
”I guess I couldn’t get them to understand how to win games. I’ll put the blame on myself.”
Matlack’s squad went 2-3 in their first five contests, and was very much in the thick of the conference race through the first half of the season.
But the team finished with a 2-8-1 record in its final 11 contests to bow out of postseason contention.
”We just couldn’t get it together,” Matlack said. “We would get ahead, but couldn’t keep a lead or put them away. We just couldn’t take care of business. I can remember probably six games where we went ahead first and teams came back and beat us. They just had more desire to win than us.”
This season is off the heels of a 6-8-2 campaign of a year ago, a season that started out 4-1-2. Since that stretch, the Vikings are 6-18-1.
But the season wasn’t without some positive moments. The Vikings did clinch a pair of victories over Piscataway, gained a 1-0 victory over Metuchen, and played many of the top teams in the conference close, including a tie to East Brunswick and one-goal defeats to eventual co-GMC champs Monroe and South Plainfield.
Seniors Corey Webb and Maggie Ford were each named to the All-GMC Coaches team, while senior goalie Rebecca Dahl, as well as juniors Ali Sisco and Lizzy Latinsky registered GMC honorable mentions. The team also received the GMC Sportsmanship Award.
”We’re making progress,” Matlack said. “This group graduating, they’re the first group who went to camp every year during the summer time. They’ve laid a different type of foundation. We started the program and laid the first level, now these kids have laid the next level and a little extra. We’ll only continued to add on top of that.”
The Vikings will graduate eight seniors: midfielder Webb, defender Ford and goalie Dahl, as well as forward Carly Bossert, forward Lauren Nissenblatt, forward Megan Nitty, midfielder Jen Luck and defender Stephanie Klarer.
”They certainly were great players,” Matlack said. “They all played four years, for the most part, and were a big part of the program. They’re good kids and they get involved in the community.”
Though a large portion of the team is graduating, Matlack and the Vikings will return a great deal of players with starting experience. Among the returnees are Latinsky, Sisco, Zollo, Sam Berk, Bindi Patel, and Kelly Taikina.

