'Shame Hopewell had to lose to lose this one
By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
Moments after seeing their season end in a heartbreaking triple overtime loss to Ocean Township, the tears streamed down the faces of the members of Hopewell Valley’s field hockey team.
Who could blame them?
Despite being outshot two-to-one in regulation, the Bulldogs took it to the Spartans through back-to-back overtime periods, outshooting Ocean, 8-1, in that time span.
“Everybody elevated their level of play in overtime. That was led by the seniors with a sense of urgency,” stated HoVal head coach Pam Edwards. “We only had a certain amount of time left and we really needed to try to get the ball down there and score."
Despite all their efforts, Hopewell could not get a ball past Ocean goalkeeper Laura Cummings. And the Spartans failed to get one past Bulldogs keeper Natalie Winters through 50 minutes of regulation and those two extra sessions.
Ocean finally got the win when it made good on four of its five penalty strokes and Cummings made waffle saves on a pair of Hopewell’s attempts. Ocean’s bench erupted when freshman Sarah Abdelaziz put a shot into the left side corner of the cage sending the Spartans home winners in an NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III Tournament pairing Nov. 4 at Central High.
“It’s exciting, it’s disappointing, it’s frustrating--that’s how it went in this game,” stated HoVal co-captain Annie Rosenblatt, afterward. “I think it was a good game--an even match. We were in it the whole time but somebody has to win and somebody has to lose.
“Unfortunately it was us.”
At the end of regulation, the Bulldogs trailed in the shots category, 9-4. They had been out-cornered, 12-7. Only some nifty goalkeeping by Winters got them to overtime.
If Hopewell was outplayed in regulation, it certainly was not in the extra sessions. The Bulldogs were awarded three penalty corners and got off five shots in the first overtime. That’s one more shot for the black and gold than they tallied in regulation.
Though she was ridden off by a Spartan defender, sophomore Tess Brzezynski was the first Hopewell player sprung loose with the ball inside the circle. Rosenblatt was next but she couldn’t put the ball past Cummings, despite repeated whacks at the ball from the goalmouth. Senior Lauren Colasanti connected on a pair of bullets from the top right side of the circle but again, Cummings was equal to the task.
Rosenblatt next tried to lead senior Cassidy Straniero with a cross only to see her classmate ridden off by an Ocean defender. Annie’s next attempt at reaching the back of the cage saw her shot glance of Cummings’ glove side. From there, the ball danced tantalizingly in the goalmouth within reach of Straniero, who took a whack at it only to see it roll wide right of the cage.
“There were times when we were pounding away,” stated Edwards. “We just needed to get one last stick on the ball.”
The first overtime ended with sophomore Alicia Wagner’s end-to-end run. The second extra session began with the same play by junior Ellie Yusko, who fed Wagner standing a few feet from the goal line. Alas, Wagner’s shot missed.
Three more missiles launched by Straniero, Rosenblatt and freshman Colby Husong failed to connect. From the left side of the cage, Wagner then sent a cross over to Yusko on the right only to see Cummings make a successful diving attempt at poking the ball away.
Edwards, meanwhile, implored her team to get the shot off earlier.
“There were times when we were taking the ball in a little bit more and trying to shoot,” said the coach, “instead of getting to the top of the circle and just crack it.”
Again from the left side, Straniero sent a ball across the goalmouth. Had someone been standing on the right, HoVal would have advanced but again, no one was there.
“It’s obviously frustrating and we were really close. We controlled the possession through most of the overtimes,” stated Rosenblatt. “There’s not a lot to say except that we just really wanted to win then instead of having the game go to [penalty] strokes.”
And so ends another successful season for the Bulldogs. Last year’s Mercer County champions, HoVal got past Princeton this year 1-0 on a goal by Husong in the MCT quarters only to see its chance at a county repeat title evaporate with a 2-1 loss to Robbinsville.
The Bulldogs won their state opener 2-0 at home versus Lawrence on goals by Hussong and Wagner and finished the season at 16-4.
Though Hopewell will say goodbye to seven seniors on the team come spring, the Bulldogs return nine juniors to next year’s team including Winters, Yusko and defenseman Meredith Magafin.
***
NOTES: With the win, Ocean pushed its record to 13-4-1. The Spartans finished third place in the Shore Conference and made it to the quarterfinals of the SC Tournament where they lost to Wall.
Sports Editor
Moments after seeing their season end in a heartbreaking triple overtime loss to Ocean Township, the tears streamed down the faces of the members of Hopewell Valley’s field hockey team.
Who could blame them?
Despite being outshot two-to-one in regulation, the Bulldogs took it to the Spartans through back-to-back overtime periods, outshooting Ocean, 8-1, in that time span.
“Everybody elevated their level of play in overtime. That was led by the seniors with a sense of urgency,” stated HoVal head coach Pam Edwards. “We only had a certain amount of time left and we really needed to try to get the ball down there and score."
Despite all their efforts, Hopewell could not get a ball past Ocean goalkeeper Laura Cummings. And the Spartans failed to get one past Bulldogs keeper Natalie Winters through 50 minutes of regulation and those two extra sessions.
Ocean finally got the win when it made good on four of its five penalty strokes and Cummings made waffle saves on a pair of Hopewell’s attempts. Ocean’s bench erupted when freshman Sarah Abdelaziz put a shot into the left side corner of the cage sending the Spartans home winners in an NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III Tournament pairing Nov. 4 at Central High.
“It’s exciting, it’s disappointing, it’s frustrating--that’s how it went in this game,” stated HoVal co-captain Annie Rosenblatt, afterward. “I think it was a good game--an even match. We were in it the whole time but somebody has to win and somebody has to lose.
“Unfortunately it was us.”
At the end of regulation, the Bulldogs trailed in the shots category, 9-4. They had been out-cornered, 12-7. Only some nifty goalkeeping by Winters got them to overtime.
If Hopewell was outplayed in regulation, it certainly was not in the extra sessions. The Bulldogs were awarded three penalty corners and got off five shots in the first overtime. That’s one more shot for the black and gold than they tallied in regulation.
Though she was ridden off by a Spartan defender, sophomore Tess Brzezynski was the first Hopewell player sprung loose with the ball inside the circle. Rosenblatt was next but she couldn’t put the ball past Cummings, despite repeated whacks at the ball from the goalmouth. Senior Lauren Colasanti connected on a pair of bullets from the top right side of the circle but again, Cummings was equal to the task.
Rosenblatt next tried to lead senior Cassidy Straniero with a cross only to see her classmate ridden off by an Ocean defender. Annie’s next attempt at reaching the back of the cage saw her shot glance of Cummings’ glove side. From there, the ball danced tantalizingly in the goalmouth within reach of Straniero, who took a whack at it only to see it roll wide right of the cage.
“There were times when we were pounding away,” stated Edwards. “We just needed to get one last stick on the ball.”
The first overtime ended with sophomore Alicia Wagner’s end-to-end run. The second extra session began with the same play by junior Ellie Yusko, who fed Wagner standing a few feet from the goal line. Alas, Wagner’s shot missed.
Three more missiles launched by Straniero, Rosenblatt and freshman Colby Husong failed to connect. From the left side of the cage, Wagner then sent a cross over to Yusko on the right only to see Cummings make a successful diving attempt at poking the ball away.
Edwards, meanwhile, implored her team to get the shot off earlier.
“There were times when we were taking the ball in a little bit more and trying to shoot,” said the coach, “instead of getting to the top of the circle and just crack it.”
Again from the left side, Straniero sent a ball across the goalmouth. Had someone been standing on the right, HoVal would have advanced but again, no one was there.
“It’s obviously frustrating and we were really close. We controlled the possession through most of the overtimes,” stated Rosenblatt. “There’s not a lot to say except that we just really wanted to win then instead of having the game go to [penalty] strokes.”
And so ends another successful season for the Bulldogs. Last year’s Mercer County champions, HoVal got past Princeton this year 1-0 on a goal by Husong in the MCT quarters only to see its chance at a county repeat title evaporate with a 2-1 loss to Robbinsville.
The Bulldogs won their state opener 2-0 at home versus Lawrence on goals by Hussong and Wagner and finished the season at 16-4.
Though Hopewell will say goodbye to seven seniors on the team come spring, the Bulldogs return nine juniors to next year’s team including Winters, Yusko and defenseman Meredith Magafin.
***
NOTES: With the win, Ocean pushed its record to 13-4-1. The Spartans finished third place in the Shore Conference and made it to the quarterfinals of the SC Tournament where they lost to Wall.
Labels: field hockey, Hopewell Valley
3 Comments:
Embracement in Hopewell
For the last 7 years I have been following the Hopewell Valley Boys Varsity Basketball Team. The reason both my son’s have played varsity basketball. Over the years I watched every game and got more frustrated with every season. Both my son’s have graduated and I still go to the games to support Hopewell. The Steinert game was a good game, but coaching lost that game. But last night, I had to get up and leave before the game was over. I was so embraced to live in Hopewell. Tony Mormile must be replaced as the varsity head coach. He has been running the same plays for 7 years now and every coach that Hopewell plays knows them. I watched the Hopewell team be humiliated at the first home game because of his coaching and leadership. Let see here, 3 assistant coaches on the bench, does Mormile listen to any of them? I have to say “No”. The 3 of them were very good ball players and know the game. Mormile was out coached again, and will be every game.
Was Ewing scouted out? One of the coaching staff must have scouted them out. If so, what do they do at practice for 2 hours every day, 6 days a week to prepare? I am guessing Mormile is running same practices as when my son’s played, nothing getting accomplished in practices, it’s a joke. I know the frustration my son’s came home with after every practice and games because this man did not have a clue how to run his own plays. Some one in the stands should have given Tony Mormile The Coaching for Dummies book, it might have helped him last night.
Hopewell is following the same start as they did last year. And it’s not the players as Mormile tells everyone. Maybe, if Tony Mormile worked with the kids in the off season like most coaches do they would be a better team. But it’s Tony Mormile we are talking about. There are some very good players on the team this year. Replace coach Mormile with someone who cares about basketball and save the tax payers of Hopewell some money. The highest paid coach in the CVC can not coach his way out of a paper bag. New Blood is needed for Hopewell.
Tony Mormile needs to be replaced as varsity coach.
Hey dummy. You are "Embraced"? What do you mean by that? Your children must be "Embraced" to have a parent like you. My high school team ran the same two or three offensive plays each game and guess what? We won a state championship! And every opposing coach knew our plays! We had some talent, not much ,but more than you witness at Hopewell. You need to learn how to write before you begin criticizing.
Tony Mormile is not a good basketball coach. This is the main reason why my family moved out of Hopewell. He was obviously only listening to certain people and playing their sons while receiving unfair benefits at the same time. If you were not quote on quote "in" or on his good side you were just forgotten about on the end of the bench. I have been to many games over the years and many of his decisions were just flat out awful. This coaching change was much needed and way overdue.
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