Mak, field hockey squad are building on chemistry
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
With 12 seniors on the roster, the West Windsor-Plainsboro High North field hockey team came into this season hoping to make it a special one.
After opening the season with a loss to Robbinsville in a game that was shortened due to thunder, the Knights have bounced back with a pair of wins and a tie against a traditionally strong Rancocas Valley team.
”We lost to Robbinsville and then we beat Lawrence and Ewing and now we have this tie,” senior Catherine Mak said Friday after the Knights played RV to a 2-2 tie. “We feel great. We have 12 seniors right now and we have all been playing together since the seventh grade. We can all tell you the ins and outs of every single player.
”Our JV coach is our coach that we had in middle school. A lot of us just fell in love with the sport. Most of us just play in school. A couple of us also play club. Mostly it is just the coaches that we have had and the chemistry that we built when we were younger.”
After RV had taken an early 1-0 lead just minutes into the game, the Knights bounced back and tied the game when Leah Yourstone scored a goal late in the opening half. RV took a 2-1 lead in the second half, only to see the Knights come back yet again when Mak scored off an assist from Sara Gostomski. Sophomore goalie Lauren Hausheer made 18 saves in goal, including a pair of key ones in the overtime period.
”This is a great tie for us,” North coach Paula Tessein said. “Our girls proved something to themselves today. They showed they can hang and that they can trust one another and that trust came out on the field. That hard work they have been putting out for a month now came out on the field. I am so proud of them. They played 70 minutes and they played hard all game.”
The Knights were up and down during the regular season a year ago, but played well in winning a pair of state tournament games. With a large group of seniors this year they would like to have a strong regular season before heading into the tournament season.
”We had a better postseason than a regular season,” Mak said of last year. “We made it to the semifinals in states. Our goal is to be better every year. We left last year wanting more and now we are trying to get that.
”This year I feel way more confident in the girls. We have higher standards for ourselves. I also play for a club team, the Princeton Field Hockey Club, so I am used to a higher level. It’s great to carry that over.”
The experience of the senior showed as they battled a strong RV team for 70 minutes.
”We have a picture in our coaches’ office of them as the seventh grade team (at Community Middle School),” Tessein said. “That unit is very tight and the younger girls have smoothly transitioned in. It was enjoyable to watch them today.
”RV is such a strong program. We’re so happy to be able to play against them. It is big confidence booster for us, especially with the history of RV and their program. At halftime and before going out in the overtime we talked about how we hope they now believe what myself and the other coaches and parents have believed in with them. Hopefully they can use this as another motivator to keep pushing on.”
Mak, who was the leading scorer for the Knights as a sophomore, has seen her role change over the last two years. While she isn’t scoring as much as she did, she is still making a big impact on the team.
”It is a different role for her,” Tessein said. “She came up big last game against Ewing. We have talked about how as a team no matter where you are on the field you are constantly contributing to the play whether you are getting that goal in or you’re helping someone get the ball to that girl to get the ball in. She has become a feeder at the top of the circle.”