After winning their respective group state championships on Nov. 15, Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School’s Maggie Jennings, left, Shore Regional High School’s Katie Mannino and their teammates were to play one more time this fall on Nov. 18 in the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions at Rider University. The last time the teams played, Rumson-Fair Haven won the Shore Conference Tournament championship, 2-0. SCOTT FRIEDMAN The Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School and Shore Regional High School field hockey teams won group titles in the state tournament, setting up a Shore Conference showdown in the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions (TOC).
At Bordentown Regional High School on Nov. 15, the Bulldogs secured their first state crown with a 3-2 win over Madison High School in the Group II final. In Group I, Shore Regional also pulled out a one-goal victory, defeating Collingswood High School, 2-1, for the school’s 14th group title.
The Blue Devils (21-3-2) earned the No. 5 seed in the TOC. Rumson-Fair Haven is seeded fourth and will bring an unbeaten record to the TOC. The Bulldogs are 23-0-2 after winning their state championship.
The field hockey rivals were scheduled to play on Nov. 17 at Rider University, but that game was postponed to Nov. 18 due to inclement weather. They met for the right to face No. 1-seed Eastern High School, which posted its 16th consecutive Group IV title, in the semifinals. Warren Hills Regional High School and Oak Knoll School were set to play in the other semifinal on Nov. 19. No Shore Conference teams have won a TOC title over the championship round’s seven years. The 2012 TOC was canceled in the wake of superstorm Sandy.
This will be the third meeting of the year between the Shore Conference rivals. They played to a 1-1 tie during the regular season. In the Shore Conference Tournament finals, the Bulldogs defeated the Blue Devils, 2-0, to pick up their first conference title.
Rumson-Fair Haven earned a spot in the TOC with the help of a goal from senior Peyton McCauley and two scores by junior Madison Maguire.
Maguire, who committed to the University of Maryland, rose to the occasion after Madison pulled within a goal, 2- 1. Lily Croddick delivered the corner, and Maggie Jennings offered the assist as Maguire scored what would become the decisive goal in the second half.
Madison again cut Rumson-Fair Haven’s lead to one when it scored with about eight minutes remaining. But the Bulldogs held onto their slim lead, thanks in large part to goalie Anna Babiak and a diving block by Jennings as the clock ticked away.
Babiak, who finished the game with four saves, and the Rumson-Fair Haven defense had to face five corners in the last two minutes of action. Madison played two of those corners with time expired.
Under first-year head coach Kelly Koenig, Shore Regional recorded its second straight group championship to stay in play for the TOC finals, where the Blue Devils lost to Eastern in 2009.
Collingswood took an early 1-0 lead but, later in the first half, Shore Regional’s Annie Deusch, a junior, scored off an assist from junior Jessica Welch to tie the game.
Welch scored the go-ahead goal in the second half on one of 11 penalty corners for the Blue Devils. Freshman Abby Kopec registered the assist.
The winning shot came with just under 13 minutes to go. Shore Regional’s defense stood tall, keeping the ball out of the circle in the final minutes. Junior goalie Sarah Dwyer logged three saves. Her counterpart, Collingswood keeper Becca Hall, successfully defended against 12 shots on goal.
The victories by Shore Regional and Rumson-Fair Haven paved the way for the first meeting between two Shore Conference teams in the TOC.