Field hockey slips past Stuart for initial win
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Tracey Arndt is asking a lot of her young players this year. And so far they have responded well for the Princeton Day School field hockey team.
”We have such a young team and I am really asking a lot of them as freshmen and sophomores; I am asking them to play like upperclassmen,” the third-year coach said after her team topped Stuart Country Day, 3-2, on Monday for its first win of the season. “They are really starting to get it. It’s a stellar group. Stuart is a good team and they are going to go far. I am glad we hung in it as a team.”
The Panthers come into the season with just three seniors on the roster and each is a big contributor. Katie Alden starts in goal, Niki vanManen anchors the defense, and Dana Poltarak is steady in the midfield.
”We only have two field players who are seniors and our goalie is a senior,” vanManen said. “We have a lot of young players and everybody is stepping up. It’s just a question of everyone telling each other to keep on going and that we have got this and keep on recovering.”
The Panthers dropped their opener, 3-1, to Montgomery but came back with a strong effort against the Tartans. Lauren Finley, Madison Mundener and Rowan Schomberg each scored a goal, while Alden finished with eight saves for the Panthers. Stuart picked up goals from Cate Donohue and Tori Hannah in the loss.
”I think this is going to be a season where everyone is going to be stepping up,” vanManen said. “If that happens then we are going to go very far.”
After years of having strong senior leaders around her, vanManen is now one of those leaders. It’s a different role but one she and the other two seniors have embraced.
”It is really weird not having the other people around me and telling me all these things,” vanManen said. “It is great to see everyone, not just the seniors, stepping up into those positions that our last year’s seniors had.
”I know with four years playing what needs to be done. This year we have some girls who have not played before at the varsity level and it is such a fast level. Everyone is doing their part to make our season the best it can be.”
Arndt, whose team fell to 1-2 with a 4-0 loss to Peddie on Wednesday, can see the young players coming along and making progress. And as long as they are making progress she knows positive results will come along.
”Every year is a challenge for different reasons,” Arndt said. “One year it could be finding the right positions. This year it is getting those young girls to step up, which is a new challenge for me. Our focus is on the process and not the product. If we lose but play the best we can then, OK, we’ll work on what is not working. I am glad we are working on the process and starting to see success.”
Having some strong leaders to lend their experience will help as the young players come along.
”Katie being in goal and having that consistency in there and aggression is great,” Arndt said. “Niki, we lost her the first game but we had her back today and she is a really consistent player. We moved her back from the midfield last year and we wondered why we didn’t do it earlier. She has been great back there. She is really poised for us. Kate Laughlin we have put in a couple different positions already and she has shown a lot of poise as well.”
On the other side of the field, Stuart is making progress as well. The Tartans have taken steps forward each of the last two seasons and are looking build on last year’s 7-12 mark.
”The numbers are up again,” said Stuart coach Missy Bruvik, whose team was scheduled to face George School on Thursday. “They are still not where we would like to see them. We’d like to have 30 girls so we can have two solid teams. We have some kids that will be floating when we do have back to back with varsity and JV. We have a tough schedule and we’ll keep playing hard. We’re going to de-brief after every game and see what we still need to do. It is early in the season.”