RUMSON – The fourth-ranked Bulldogs opened the 2017 field hockey season with an impressive 3-0 win over Moorestown – ranked fifth in the state. The win avenged last season’s 3-2 loss to the Quakers, which was one of only two losses for Rumson-Fair Haven during their 22-2 season a year ago.
“That was a great start to the season,” RFH head coach Julie Brewington said of the win. “It was nice to have Moorestown as our first game and to get that win and get off to a solid start."
The Bulldogs’ only other loss last season came at the hands of West Essex, dropping a 5-2 decision in the NJSIAA Group II final after defeating West Deptford, 2-1, to advance to the Group final. Prior to that, Rumson took home the Central Jersey Group II title for their fourth sectional title in five years beating Wall, 5-1.
After defeating Rumson, West Essex went on to beat state power Eastern in overtime of the Tournament of Champions final for their first ever T.O.C. title. In beating Eastern, the Knights snapped the Vikings’ 144-game unbeaten streak dating back to the 2010 T.O.C. final.
Rumson’s 2014 team beat North I, Group II champion Madison, 3-2, in the NJSIAA Group II final for the program’s first-and-only Group title before losing, 4-0, to eventual champion Eastern in the Tournament of Champions semifinals.
This season, Rumson, who is 5-0 and also ranked No. 1 in the Shore, returns 14 seniors and four first-team and one second-team All-Shore selections from last season’s sectional championship team.
Senior midfielder Lilly Croddick, who was also a second-team All-State pick after scoring 44 goals and assisting on 19 others, is back and better than ever. She currently leads the team with 12 goals to go along with two assists and has verbally committed to Stanford University for the 2018 season.
“Lilly is one of our captains,” said Brewington. “She’s back as our leading goal scorer after scoring her 100th goal last season as a junior. She’s playing center mid for us and is doing a phenomenal job. What’s really great about this team is that there’s so many girls as contributors and that’s what makes us who we are.”
The Bulldogs field a virtual All-Star team that can overwhelm opposition with their ultra-high-powered attack or roll a shutout behind their suffocating defense. With so much experience and depth on the team, the Bulldogs are one of the favorites to return to the Tournament of Champions and possibly win the whole thing.
“Absolutely, that would definitely be what our goal would be,” said Brewington of her team’s expectations. “And we have a very talented team with a lot of experience which helps a lot but there is so much talent in the state and Shore Conference that we know that we have to really be at our best every game.”
Four of the five Bulldogs wins have come via shutouts with their lone goal allowed coming in their 10-1 win over Red Bank Regional. Overall, Rumson has outscored its five opponents, 38-1.
Senior goalie Molly Nowell had some huge shoes to fill stepping in for graduated goalie Alex Devito but the transition has been seamless as her one-goal allowed suggests.
Junior forward Bridy Molyneaux, who racked up 26 goals and 18 assists a year ago while garnering first-team All-Shore recognition, is back and doing her thing again this season. She’s second on the team in scoring at this point of the season with six goals and two assists.
Also back and better than ever are seniors Makenna Maguire and Emma D’Amelio – both All-Shore selections a year ago when Maguire recorded 16 goals and 24 assists and D’Amelio had 19 goals and 16 assists. This season Maguire’s netted three goals and added five assist while D’Amelio has added two goals and three assists.
Senior Kaitlyn Macgillis – a Cornell University commit – is back anchoring the defense where she led a unit that recorded 17 shutouts last season while being named first-team All-Shore.
“Kaitlyn is another captain and she’s been phenomenal for us for four years now,” said Brewington of her star defender. “This year she’s really stepped up for us as the leader of the defense.”
Junior Grace Jamin and sophomore Maeve Hierholzer have been solid in defense as well.
After scoring 24 goals and assisting on eight others last season as a sophomore, Elana Werner, who has three goals this season, was somewhat overlooked when it came to post-season awards while playing on a team that featured so many stars having huge years.
“Elana’s made some great improvements and had an awesome preseason,” said Brewington. “She’s also been more of a contributor as far as leadership on the field on the forward line. Her skills and speed have improved and we expect her to do some great things for us this year.”
Senior Josie Francis (2 G), juniors Neva Coleman (2 G), Ana Claire Piancentini (3 G) and Alina Arko (1 G, 1 A) and freshman Meadow Maguire (3 G, 2 A) are all key contributors to the Bulldogs success as well.
The Bulldogs have Freehold Township – ranked 17th in the state and fourth in the Shore – and Freehold – No. 10 in the Shore – remaining on their regular season schedule. Then they’ll be up against the likes of Shore Regional – No. 8 in the state and second in the Shore – and Wall – 11th in the state and No. 3 in the Shore – among others in the Shore Conference Tournament before they even get to the states, so they have their work cut out for them.
“The girls, especially the seniors, have those goals and things they want to accomplish this season,” Brewington said of her team’s mind set. “But the main thing we keep stressing is that we have to take one game at a time and not get ahead of ourselves. They understand every game is important and we have to keep improving. They’re definitely on board with what we’re trying to accomplish this season but sometimes it’s hard to not get ahead of yourselves a little bit but they also understand that we have a target on our backs and they have to perform every game.”
UPDATE: The Bulldogs lost to No. 10 Bridgewater-Raritan, 2-1, in overtime Saturday in Rumson. Lilly Croddick scored for Rumson in the first half and the two teams battled to a scoreless second half before Bridgewater-Raritan won in overtime. Christina Zydzik had 28 saves in goal for Bridgewater-Raritan as the Bulldogs bombarded the net but failed to break through. The Bulldogs drop to 5-1 on the year with the loss.
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