A happy meal

Schalick field hockey edges Middle Twp., heads to a familiar McDonald’s to celebrate and chase a bad taste away 

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I
Quarterfinals
No. 1 West Deptford 3, No. 9 Haddon Twp. 1
No. 5 Woodstown at No. 4 Collingswood (Wed.)
No. 6 Schalick 1, No. 3 Middle Twp. 0
No. 2 Florence 5, No. 7 Gloucester 4 (OT)
Semifinals
Woodstown-Collingswood winner at West Deptford
Schalick vs. Gloucester-Florence winner

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – The horn had just blown to signal the Schalick field hockey team‘s victory in the South Jersey Group I quarterfinals Tuesday and coach Heather Cheesman knew exactly where the team was going next.

The Cougars dispatched Middle Twp. 1-0 and then headed off to McDonald’s on the way out of town to celebrate and exorcise some unfriendly ghosts on Halloween that have been hanging around since 2016.

The story goes that when the Cougars lost to Middle in the sectional finals that year, they went to the local Golden Arches for a post-game meal. The Panthers, meanwhile, hopped on their township fire trucks and paraded around town with the sirens blaring. 

The motorcade passed right by the McDonald’s where the Cougars where eating their lunch. It was not a happy meal.

Cheesman was in her first year as the Cougars head coach that season, but she remembered and told her current team that story right before the game. She told them if they won Tuesday that’s where they were going to celebrate.

“It was just like a stab in the heart after losing the game,” Cheesman said of the parade scene. “It was a different vibe this time.”

The Cougars (13-5-1) came out aggressive and senior Sophia Longo scored the game’s only goal two minutes into the match. They scored their first goal in the opening round 62 seconds into the match.

“You’ve got to get going early, keep the pressure on and be aggressive,” Cheesman said. “We’ve been telling them play your game, be aggressive and they’ve been doing that.”

Longo is a midfielder, but found herself in the right place at the right time crashing on a corner and knocked a pass from Lucy Virga back into the cage. It was her third goal of the season.

“Honestly, I wasn’t really expecting the ball to come at me so quickly, so I just kind of just passed it in and it just rolled into the goal,” Longo said. “I was pretty excited because I don’t score a lot and it was a pretty big game.”

It was the Cougars’ fourth straight win and ninth shutout. They now play at second-seeded Florence (15-2-1), a 5-4 overtime winner over Gloucester. The game must be played by Saturday.

The team started back to Salem County shortly after the game then the bus pulled into the parking lot and the players were loving it. When it came her turn at the counter, Longo ordered four chicken nuggets and fries.

“I thought that was really fun,” Longo said. “It’s something we don’t normally do and all the team went to celebrate. It was a really great experience. It was a great way to tie up the rivalry that team had with them, us winning and then going back to that place.”

Sounds like something the Cougars might be inclined to do after every big win now.

“I think that’d be a pretty cool tradition to start, to be honest,” Longo said.