Tartan goalkeeper has shutouts in first two games
By: Justin Feil
!["image"]("/local/Z/ZWIRE1091/zwire/images/PPS-STU-PDS2.jpg")
Staff
photo by Mark Czajkowski |
| Stuart Country Day School’s Kate Baker attempts to move past Princeton Day School’s Sydney Jenkins during the Tartans’ 2-0 win over the Panthers on Tuesday
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Clodagh Coghlan has been a help to the Stuart Country Day field hockey program for the past two years for two Mercer County Tournament championship seasons.
It’s just been hard to notice her contributions.
A back-up the past two years, first to Christa Goeke, who now starts for Davidson College, and then to Dutch import Laura van Jaarsveld, Coghlan is savoring her first significant varsity play. The junior goalkeeper made two saves for her second straight shutout, a 2-0, win over Princeton Day School on Tuesday.
"It’s a lot better being out there," Coghlan said. "It’s definitely great. Our team has a really good vibe. They’re really great girls. It’s really nice to be out on the field finally, getting some shots and getting part of the action."
Coghlan hasn’t been tremendously busy in goal, but that’s fine with her for her first two career starts.
"It’s good to keep it that way," she said. "I get enough work in practice. It’s good to keep the shots low in games."
Coghlan has been fine-tuning her skills against the vaunted Tartans attack over the past two years. She continues to get plenty of work in practice from the likes of Jaclyn Gaudioso Radvany, who scored the game-winning goal on a first-half stroke and assisted on Caroline Passano’s insurance goal in the second half. The attack is continuing to work on its spacing and its ability to finish its scoring chances. In the meantime, Coghlan figures to find some stiffer tests in the Tartans schedule that continues when they host Blair on Saturday.
"I don’t know what to compare her improvements to," said first-year Stuart coach Katie Grant, "but from what I’ve seen she’s a great keeper. I feel very comfortable having her in cage. I think the defenders also feel that way. They’re confident in her abilities.
"She has a lot to learn, but they all do. They’re high school players, and they’re getting better every day. They’re getting challenged. They challenge each other every day at practice. Hopefully, she won’t get challenged, but if she would, I’d feel confident in her."
Before Gaudioso Radvany’s goal broke the scoreless tie with 12:50 remaining before the half, Coghlan had her first test. She turned away a low bullet from the right point and eight minutes later, the Tartans were on the board.
"Every game, every team has gotten some really difficult shots off against Clodagh," Grant said. "She made some crucial saves today. A couple times, they had some really dangerous shots and she pulled through and cleared them to some open space.
"She gets tested and she makes some huge saves. She’s one of the keepers that will do everything to not let it in the cage. She’s really good about that and she works really hard."
Coghlan is doing all she can to sustain the success that the Tartans program has enjoyed over recent years. It’s a high standard for her first year as Stuart’s starting goalkeeper.
"You definitely do feel pressure," Coghlan said. "When you mess up, most of the time, it goes up on the scoreboard. Our team is a really good team. They always support everyone. No matter what happens, they always back you up. They acknowledge that it’s the team’s fault, not just one player.
"I do feel pressure in the sense that it is a great team and we want to keep the record going. We want to do better than we did last year. We’ve got a lot of really talented girls who want to go places in field hockey. We don’t want to disappoint anyone. At the same time, it’s a really good community. Everyone really cares and backs everyone up and doesn’t blame anything on anyone. I guess that takes away some of the pressure."
The Tartans lost five seniors from last year’s team that went 18-1-1, with its only blemishes coming at the hands of Lawrenceville. Stuart has picked up where it left off with wins over Academy of New Church and PDS.
"It’s definitely a good start," Coghlan said. "It’s always nerve-wracking going into your season with your second game being against a high competitor. It’s going to be good coming out of this win and getting our confidence up. We still know we have things to work on. No game is perfect, but it’s a really good start to the season."
The loss dropped the Panthers to 0-3. PDS is dealing with the loss of, among others, four-year starters Allie and Nina Crouse from last year’s 12-5-1 squad. In their place is a young nucleus.
"They’re working hard," said PDS head coach Jill Thomas. "We see bright spots of people working together a little better. When you take the whole midsection out of your team, it’s tough. We’ve come back and seen some nice things from Mariel and Sydney (Jenkins). Bryanna (Mayes) is working hard. Erin Burns, Lindsey Mischner, they’re working hard.
"They haven’t played at this level. We’re young. I think you saw some exciting things. We had some opportunities. The experience is just going to grow, grow, grow. They’ve never played at this level. It’s not JV and it’s not junior, so it takes time. But Sydney can play at this level and she’s a freshman."
The speed of the Jenkins sisters was a concern for the Tartans. Even with Passano’s goal, there was no relaxing for Coghlan and Stuart.
"It’s definitely a lot more comfortable to have a second goal," said the Pennington resident. "It does give you a little more of a cushion, but you can never let your guard down, even when the score is 5-0. Anything can happen really in a little amount of time, especially with a good team like PDS. You always have to keep working."
Eventually that work pays off, as Clodagh Coghlan is finding out in her first year as Stuart’s starting goalkeeper. Two games, two shutouts. Something says the wait was worth it.