Intensity is the word

Woodstown field hockey ramps it up in second half, puts away Maple Shade in sectional 
tournament; Salem falls in its opener

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I
First-round games
Haddon Twp. 3, Salem 1
Woodstown 2, Maple Shade 1
Collingswood 8, Gateway 1
Middle Twp. 6, Audubon 0
Schalick 3, Bordentown 0
Gloucester 5, Lower Cape May 0
Florence 6, New Egypt 0
Quarterfinals
Haddon Twp. at West Deptford
Woodstown at Collingswood
Schalick at Middle Twp.
Gloucester at Florence

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN — Most teams when they break it down to take their game to the field usually shout out something like their school’s name or mascot.

The Woodstown field hockey team chooses its word with purpose.

The word of the day to start the second half Friday was “intensity,” and the Wolverines brought a lot more of what they already had.

They scored both of their goals in the first 10 minutes of the third quarter to fuel a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Maple Shade in the South Jersey Group I playoffs. The Wolverines now will play at No. 4 Collingswood in the quarterfinals. Collingswood beat Gateway 8-1.

“There’s a lot behind the word intensity,” Wolverines coach Bryanna Roberts said. “The second half is when you really have to come out. Obviously you want it in the first half, but it’s now or never at this point.

“As far as the word intensity, all the girls show it and that’s the word that we use because going into that second half it’s now or never and you’ve got to work hard for it.”

It’s not like they weren’t intense in the first half. They actually dominated the play with more corners (11-1) and shots on goal (5-1), but they trailed the Wildcats 1-0.

Lexi Andrada scored on a shot from the top of the circle with 4:26 left in the first quarter to give the Wildcats the lead. Woodstown’s Megan Donelson had the tying goal disallowed by a foot foul in the goalmouth with two minutes left in the half and that seemed to inspire using the key word even more.

“It just gets us all fired up,” Donelson said.

“It really does motivate us to keep moving forward,” goal-scorer Brea DiGregorio said. “If we put that in the air, then it shows on the field.”

Shyann Higinbotham tied the game with a shot from the right side of the circle with only 1:53 gone in the third quarter. The Wolverines continued to press the attack and DiGregorio scored the game-winner with 5:33 left in the quarter. 

“I saw the ball coming towards me and I knew I had to be ready and get my stick down in order to hit it back because that was my responsibility,” DiGregorio said. “(Coming from behind) shows our grit and our toughness that we ‘re able to bring it back after they score. We responded.”

HADDON TWP. 3, SALEM 1: The Hawks took control with two goals in the first quarter, added a third before halftime and kept the Rams at arm’s length in the second half. Anna Buzby scored Salem’s goal in the third quarter.

Haddon Twp. now travels to rested West Deptford for the quarterfinals. The top-seeded Eagles drew a first-round bye.

Cover photo: Woodstown’s Taylor Predergast (6) tries to steer clear of the pressure being applied by Maple Shade’s Rachel Loomis during Friday’s South Jersey Group I field hockey tournament game.