Great season ends in heart-breaking fashion
By: Rudy Brandl
FLEMINGTON The Hillsborough High field hockey defense never allowed a goal in the normal flow of play during the entire North Jersey Section 2, Group 4 playoffs. Unfortunately, the Raiders couldn’t stop the one penalty stroke that decided the sectional championship.
Hunterdon Central’s Mandy Malzberg drilled a stroke into the far right corner of the cage past Hillsborough sophomore goalkeeper Ellyn Griggs with 14:18 remaining in regulation to account for the game’s only goal. Central defended its title with a 1-0 victory and ended Hillsborough’s season in gut-wrenching fashion for the second consecutive year.
"It’s such a heartbreaker to lose that way," HHS head coach Peach Reigle said afterward. "It’s just an awful way to lose a state game. I guess that’s what happens when it’s this close."
Reigle and the Raiders questioned the stroke call by the official. The Red Devils were swarming around the Hillsborough cage and Griggs made a pad save on a shot from the left side. The ball deflected in the air and hit Raider link Kerry Stanton on the left shoulder. Since Stanton was standing on the goal line, it was ruled that she stopped the ball from going into the goal and a stroke was awarded.
"I don’t know what the ref was thinking," said Griggs, who played another outstanding game with 10 saves. "I deflected off her stick and I tried to deflect it away. I thought it was high before it hit (Stanton)."
Central won last year’s sectional semifinal in a stroke shootout after the teams played scoreless hockey for 80 minutes. This year’s loss was equally painful for the Raiders.
"They were very well-prepared and it’s just hard for the seniors," Reigle said. "It’s two years in a row they have to lose like this."
The game went back and forth and both teams had chances to score. Central applied more pressure in the first half with seven penalty corners, but Griggs was brilliant in the cage. Hillsborough played tenacious defense, especially on Malzberg, Central’s top player. HHS link Gillian Cardinale shadowed Malzberg and kept her off the board, until the stroke.
"We had her marked the whole game," Reigle said. "Obviously, we can’t mark her on a stroke. She’s a very talented player. The penalty stroke is an advantage to the other team."
Hillsborough picked up the pressure in the final 10 minutes and had a five-minute power play after Malzberg was issued a yellow card. Central goalkeeper Taylor Herman stuffed Kate Bucci at the right post to set up the first of two penalty corners for the Raiders. Those plays that worked so well in producing 1-0 victories over East Brunswick and Sayreville didn’t click in the sectional final.
"They weren’t effective today," Reigle said. "They had some fast fliers and we couldn’t get the shot off."
The Raiders kept charging forward but couldn’t put one in the cage. The final seconds ticked away after Central link Jackie Gelinas smacked a long free hit into the far right corner of the Hillsborough end.
"I’m so proud of them," Reigle said. "They did everything right today except score."
Stanton, Griggs
key semifinal win
SAYREVILLE Hillsborough High advanced to its first sectional field hockey final in 20 years with a 1-0 victory at Sayreville in the semifinals.
Kerry Stanton started and finished a well-executed penalty corner play to score the game’s only goal with 3:18 remaining in the first half. Sophomore goalkeeper Ellyn Griggs made sure that was enough, making nine tough saves against the top-seeded team in the section.
HHS head coach Peach Reigle added some fancy penalty corner plays during the state playoffs and her team executed another new one at Sayreville. Stanton fed Liz Tafaro from the right side and pinched in toward the right post. Tafaro drilled a hard pass or shot toward the cage and Stanton tapped it in.
"We learned a new corner because the Sayreville coaches were scouting us (at the 1-0 win over East Brunswick)," Stanton said. "We used it and it worked. It’s so exciting."
"It worked just like we planned," Reigle added. "It was a new corner that we practiced like 65 times yesterday. It kept working and working and it did again today."
The HHS defense cleared out most of the danger provided by Sayreville’s 12 penalty corners. Griggs stopped everything else.
"The defense really helped a lot," Griggs said. "Every time I block it, if there’s rebound, they hit it out."
Sweeper Kristen Derewecki, center back Megan Kubek and outside backs Maggie Patrick, Michelle Cilenti and Katherine Glass-Hardenberg combined to stop the Bombers from tying the score. The Middlesex County champs picked up the pressure, especially after calling their final timeout with 7:30 remaining.
"After they called timeout, we just wanted to stall and run the clock out," Reigle said. "We wanted to get more people back on defense."
The Raiders held on and put themselves in a position to win the school’s first sectional field hockey title since 1984.
"It feels so good to finally get there," Reigle said. "I always feel like we’re underestimated."