‘Beautiful’ first scrimmage

Pennsville field hockey battles Deptford Twp. to a scoreless tie, but dominates the action

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – Pennsville field hockey coach Lisa Doran isn’t quite ready to start making reservations for the sectional championship game just yet, but she did like what she saw from the Eagles’ first scrimmage of the fall.

Everybody uses COVID as the demarcation point for comparisons these days and Doran easily called Monday’s exercise from a Pennsville perspective the best first scrimmage since the pandemic turned everybody’s world upside down.

The Eagles’ young team played Deptford Twp. to a scoreless tie, but they dominated at every turn. And they still had several upperclassmen fulfilling their six-practice moratorium.

“We have a lot of new kids and some who never played before this year and … they had to get out there and they really stepped up,” Doran said. “I’m really proud of everything these kids did today. They’re working really hard. I’m very positive about the season. They look good.”

Most of the game’s action was in their attacking end. They outshot the Spartans 24-5, had 23 corners to their visitors’ three and goalie Ruby Hassler was required to make zero saves. The limited number of available players meant lots of minutes for many, but instead of wearing down they maintained their intensity and aggressiveness well into the fourth quarter.

“Because there were so many new kids and young kids playing, I expected them to be a little panicked, but they weren’t,” Doran said. “They were aggressive, they went to the ball; everything told them they were trying. That’s all you can ask of them, especially of a young team.

“In the last two years this was probably one of the better first scrimmages. I felt very comfortable and I can see that they’re getting it and they’re trying to get it. It was beautiful.”