Cougars knock off top-ranked South Jersey Group 3 Hammonton in battle of unbeatens, Woodstown routs Cumberland
MONDAY FIELD HOCKEY
Schalick 4, Hammonton 2
Woodstown 9, Cumberland 1
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – Lydia Gilligan is usually a pretty good sleeper, but with a titanic battle on her turf the next day she didn’t sleep very well Sunday night. The Schalick goalie kept tossing and turning, and when she did finally doze off a couple bad dreams shook her awake.
In one of the dreams, somebody told her the Cougars were going to lose their game with Hammonton later in the day. In the other, she gave up a goal off the side of her foot at a crucial time in the game.
It’s a good thing for Gilligan and the Cougars dreams don’t always come true.
Phoebe Alward and Ava Scurry both scored twice and Gilligan made 26 saves in goal and successfully stood her ground on a penalty stroke in the fourth quarter as the Cougars took down the previously undefeated Blue Devils 4-2 Monday to remain undefeated themselves.
“This is probably the best I’ve seen them play together as a team,” Cougars coach Heather Cheesman said. “They played really well. They knew we were both undefeated coming into it, they knew it was going to be a tough game. This was the toughest game we’ve had so far this year.”
The game had the attention of the field hockey world, at least in South Jersey. Schalick (8-0) came into the game as the No. 2 team in SJ Group I power points. Hammonton (9-1) was the No. 1 team in SJ Group 3 and had scored enough goals this season to keep even the soundest of sleepers up at night.
“I never have dreams about field hockey; I could barely sleep,” Gilligan said. “I always have a feeling we’re going to lose, but today I didn’t have that feeling and we pulled through.”
She did give up a terrible goal in the first quarter, but it was the only time the Cougars trailed. They rattled off the next three goals and took a 3-2 lead into halftime.
It stayed that way into the fourth quarter. Late in the quarter Gilligan was called for covering the ball in the crease and it set up Hammonton’s Emma Longo for a potential game-tying penalty stroke.
Gilligan hadn’t stopped one all season, but she was successful this time as Longo’s shot missed outside the left post.
“I was about ready to bawl my eyes out; my stroke game has not been good,” she said. “It was so silent after that you could hear a pin drop. I thought it went right into the net and I couldn’t hear it. Then all I see is my defense jump up and I just like fell to the ground.”
It was one of 28 shots the Blue Devils fired Gilligan’s way.
“It’s the most chaotic I think I’ve ever felt playing,” she said. “I don’t think I ever had a moment to rest. There were so many flaws and we still held it together and I was just counting the minutes, counting the minutes. I was always on my toes. I couldn’t shut up. I was either cheering or yelling.”
It remained a 3-2 game until Alward knocked one into the cage just moments ahead of the final horn. It was her 11th goal this year. Scurry, who recently notched her 100th career point, now has 19 goals on the season. She has scored multiple goals in every game this year.
Schalick 4, Hammonton 2
| Hammonton (9-1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0- | 2 |
| Schalick (8-0) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1- | 4 |
GOALS: H-Gabrielle Childs, 7:47 1Q; S-Ava Scurry (Phoebe Alward), 3:45 1Q; S-Ava Scurry (Phoebe Alward), 14:41 2Q; S-Phoebe Alward (Lena Virga), 8:44 2Q; H-Gabriella Teti, 7:03 2Q; S-Phoebe Alward, 0:01 4Q
WOODSTOWN 9, CUMBERLAND 1: Brae DiGregorio scored three goals and Sienna Land scored two as the Wolverines (5-2) won their fourth in a row. Hannah Hitchner, Shyann Higinbotham, Megan Donelson and Zoe Lipovsky scored Woodstown’s other goals. The Wolverines have outscored their opponents 25-2 during their current winning streak and have increased their goal production each game.
Riverview Sports News 