By Wayne Witkowski
Call it a golden season for field hockey for Jackson Township’s two high school teams.
Jackson Liberty High School and Jackson Memorial High School embarked on tournament play this week in the home stretch of memorable regular seasons.
Jackson Liberty is 11-1 and had the chance to repeat as Shore Conference B South Division champions with a victory Oct. 18 against Pinelands Regional High School. Both teams finished as co-champions last year.
Jackson Liberty has allowed only two goals this season behind junior goalkeeper Kate Koehler and has shut out its last four opponents. The streak began after the Lions suffered a 1-0 loss in a B South game to Point Pleasant Borough High School, which it played in a rematch Oct. 17.
Point Pleasant Borough battled back with a second-half goal after sophomore Carly Low staked the Lions to a 1-0 lead at halftime. Both teams played to a 1-1 tie through a scoreless overtime. The tie is costly, as Jackson Liberty is faced with a do-or-die situation in which it needed to beat Pinelands to win the division title. A loss or tie would drop the Lions to a runner-up finish.
Coach Ashley Forsyth called senior Megan Slahor the backbone of the defense at sweeper.
“Last year, we graduated 11 seniors, so going into this year, we weren’t sure who was playing and where,” Forsyth said in her second season as head coach. “We have a lot of speed, so the goal is to use that as much as possible.
“I was not surprised [about the season] but really proud as the sophomores and juniors stepped right into positions, and we give credit to the couple of players back who lead and mentor the younger players.”
Jackson Liberty opened Shore Conference Tournament play Oct. 18 at Shore Conference A South Division champion Toms River High School North, which is 12-2-1.
Jackson Memorial is 8-5-1 after a 2-3 start with three games still left to play in A South. It was eliminated in the Shore Conference Tournament Oct. 17 by No. 1 seed Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School, 9-1, but still has the NJSIAA Group IV tournament ahead. Rumson-Fair Haven is ranked No. 7 in a state poll.
As the No. 16 seed in the conference tournament, the Jaguars advanced to that matchup with preliminary game victory over Colts Neck High School, 6-0, Oct. 15. Seniors Rebekah Chin and Jill McGuinness each scored twice, while junior Abigail Reist and senior Taryn Wilkins had five assists between them. Wilkins leads the team with eight goals and six assists. Freshman goalkeeper Mildred Trembley needed to make only two saves, as she has ably replaced graduated four-year starter Morgan Novak.
Coach Jenna Blondina-Rosenfeld feels Reist, who anchors a strong midfield with Chin and junior Kerry Walsh, shares the credit for the staunch defense with senior sweeper Jesse Hoefler and the Sheeran sisters — sophomore Erin and freshman Jamie — on the wings.
“Reist is a workhorse who, unfortunately, does not have many stats but is the reason why we have many of our goals and not many goals against us,” the coach said.
The cutoff for seeding in the state tournament was Oct. 18.
“We were able to bounce back after a few early losses. We made some mistakes early on in the season that we were able to fix moving forward to tournament play,” Blondina-Rosenfeld said.
The coach said her team’s depth allows her to decide on a starting lineup during pregame warm-ups depending on who is playing well at the time. She feels McGuinness and senior defender Grace Burrows, who are new to the varsity team, have boosted the team.
The Jaguars are 7-3-1 in the division and dealt Toms River North its only division loss, 1-0, Oct. 11. Sophomore Emily Miller scored off an assist from Chin off a corner, while Trembley needed to make only two saves in goal. Miller has scored seven goals.
The victory came amid a three-game winning streak, which all came via shutout, entering this week. The other wins came over Toms River High School East, 2-0, Oct. 10 and Colts Neck.
Because of its many rainouts, Jackson Memorial still has division games scheduled at Central Regional Regional High School Oct. 19 and at Toms River High School South Oct. 21, with a makeup at hand against Brick Township High School.
Jackson Liberty has a lot of drama in store as it looks to capitalize on its tenacious defense.
“It’s a combination of the entire team playing strong and maintaining the offensive possession,” Forsyth said. “In some games, we were controlling the ball, and there’s not as much pressure back there.”
Sophomore Jade Rivera leads the young team of only three seniors with 22 goals, followed by juniors Donna Polhemus and Tori Wypych with 11 and 10 goals, respectively. Senior Carly O’Connor has a team-high 14 assists to go with six goals, followed by Wypych’s 13 assists. O’Connor, Wypych and junior Meghan Iurato, who has seven goals and five assists, are the lone returning starters.
Along with Slahor, the defense includes juniors Daniele Marotta and Nicole Balingit and freshman Ellie Wypych.
Junior Va’Shayna Williams and sophomore Carly Low also bolster the lineup, which has dealt with injuries along the way.
“We have to be aggressive and the first to score. That’s important. It sets the tone,” Forsyth said, as her team has scored 63 goals.