By Justin Feil, Packet Media Group
Hillsborough High School field hockey goalkeeper Valeria Hirsch was the only player to volunteer for the position in eighth grade.
“I played goalie in soccer,” Hirsch said. “And I played goalie in lacrosse. It’s always goalie for me.”
The Raiders feel lucky to have her experience in the back. Now a senior, Hirsch made 11 saves as Hillsborough earned a tight 3-2 win over Pingry on Saturday.
“That was really good,” Hirsch said. “At first, it was really frustrating. We were winning then two goals got scored on me, then the pressure was on. It was 2-2, and the defense and I had to step it up and not let another goal in.”
Ally Benadon, Dakota Sidel and Emily VanPelt scored a goal apiece as the Raiders improved to 4-3 going into Tuesday’s scheduled game against Watchung Hills.
“I think we are playing awesome,” said Hillsborough head coach Dorian Gilmartin. “Saturday’s win was huge. We have our seeding meeting for counties on Wednesday. We said to the girls, if we could win and go into Watchung Hills with some momentum, we’d have a chance for a decently high seed. We could have a bye in the first round in counties, which we haven’t had in years.”
Gilmartin gives credit to her senior class for getting the Raiders on track. Hillsborough came off two tough losses to Warren Hills and Bridgewater-Raritan before edging Pingry.
“Our coach was basically saying she was proud of how we were playing after those,” Hirsch said. “Those teams are coached really tough. The next day in practice, we worked on the mistakes we made in the game. In the Pingry game, we fixed those. All she wants from us, is we get better each game.”
Hirsch is happy to do her part. She is in her first season as the full-time starter. She played some varsity as a sophomore and split starts last year, but this year she has taken the lead.
“She’s funny,” Gilmartin said. “She’s a little spark. She’s kind of a spitfire. I joke that she’s the only person not taller than me on this team. She’s loud. She has this huge personality. She lets a goal in, she’s calling the defense in and saying, this is what happened or it was my fault. She’s accountable and she holds her defense accountable. That’s huge.
“She sees the whole field. That’s something you don’t see sometimes in a goalie. She’s so self-aware and in the game at all times. That’s huge to have as our final piece of the wall in our defense. She’s maybe 5-feet tall. She’ll jump higher than anyone to get a shot in the corner. I’m very blessed to have her back there in cage.”
Hirsch is trying to make her final scholastic season her best one yet. Being a senior gives her special incentive, and she has a team surrounding her that is equally motivated to be better this year.
“It’s the same people from last year playing together,” Hirsch said. “We had another chance of playing better. It was basically in our heads, we had to think how we’d work together and how we’d improve.”
She sees all the ingredients for a strong year within the Raiders.
“I definitely think our team is a lot better this year because we have a lot of skilled people, but we all work together to score the goals,” she said. “Last year, there’d be one person leading the team.
“I think the defense is way stronger than it was last year,” she added. “We have one girl, Rhinnon (Accenta), she tells everyone where to be and tells the offense to get back. We’re conditioned in running a lot better as well.”
Hirsch has tried to be a leader that the younger Raiders can look up to. She has shown how far hard work can take a player and given them a strong role model.
“A big thing is that these girls, with the senior leadership, they’re playing like it’s their last season and they want to go out with a bang,” Gilmartin said. “I told the girls, this is going to be my last year at Hillsborough. I’m coaching at Drew (University) next year. I told the girls, I wanted to be here longer, but it’s a career thing. I’m trying to get them to get going because I want them to have a great year.”
The Raiders are off to a more promising start to this season. It’s helped bring them confidence and helped them see they can aim higher. They will have the county tournament to prove how much improved they are this season.
“I think this year we can make it pretty far,” Hirsch said. “Last year, I remember we were out within two games. I think this year we have a way better chance to getting to at least the fourth game. It depends how we show up that day. Sometimes our coach says we’re the team we know we are and sometimes we’re not.”
Against Pingry, the Raiders showed some fire to close out the game. Pingry rallied to tie the score and had the momentum, but Hillsborough would not go down.
“We just wanted that win more,” Gilmartin said. “We really wanted that win more. We were hungry. I told the girls, if we win these next few games, we’ll have a better seed. I think that lit a little fire in them.
“I credit so much of our success to the leadership of our seniors,” she added. “They’re getting everyone on board. Even when we practice as a full program, they get the freshmen on board. They get this, we’re going to do this for when we leave this program behind. They want to leave a good foundation.”
