Shawnee hoping to reach the final

As Washington Township and Eastern, the giants of area field hockey, prepare to play today at 2 p.m. in an NJSIAA South Jersey Group 4 semifinal, Shawnee is gearing up for Egg Harbor Township in the other semifinal.

Seeded fifth in South Jersey Group 4, Shawnee (17-4) has the tools to defeat top-seeded Egg Harbor Township (8-3-5), and if it does, the Renegades will face second-seeded Eastern or Washington Township, the third seed, in the sectional final on Saturday.

Eastern is ranked No. 1 by The Inquirer, Washington Township No. 2 and Shawnee No. 4.

The Renegades, winners of the Olympic Conference, Patriot Division, would like nothing better than a rematch with one of their two conference rivals from the American Division, which is regarded as stronger.

Washington Township defeated Shawnee, 3-2, on Oct. 1, and Eastern beat the Renegades, 1-0, on Oct. 6. Both were close games, and it could be close again, with Shawnee coming out on top.

All four of Shawnee's losses were to quality teams, including a 2-1 defeat to powerhouse Oak Knoll in the second game of the season, and a 3-2 loss to Bishop Eustace.

But before any payback scenarios can be played out, the Renegades must focus on Egg Harbor Township, a team with which the Renegades are slightly familiar.

"It'll be a good game," said Shawnee goalkeeper Briana Pereira. "They are very spirited. We scrimmaged them in preseason. They go to the same summer camp that we do in Pennsylvania.

"Our team is definitely ready physically. . . . We have to be sure we bring it on game day."

Shawnee triumphed over fourth-seeded Southern Regional, 5-0, in a quarterfinal round on Monday, giving the three-year starter in goal her 12th shutout of the season.

Pereira said there were encouraging signs in that game that the team is starting to peak at the right time. Twenty players saw action. They were communicating well, and set plays with post players waiting to score off crosses were working.

Local Rocky

Williamstown coach Stacy Zentz wanted to inspire her team for its Monday game with Washington Township, the largest school in South Jersey. So she told the players a David and Goliath story, only it was about the fictional boxing hero Rocky and how he prepared mentally and physically to fight the superhuman Russian, Ivan Drago.

"I told them about how Rocky was working in the wild versus the technology that the Russian had on his side," Zentz said.

That's not all Zentz did to try to coax a win out of her players in a South Group 4 quarterfinal game with The Inquirer's No. 2-ranked team in the area.

In Rockyesque fashion, Zentz had her team practice passing on the hardwood floor of the school's gym and at a nearby roller hockey rink in order to simulate the speed of the ball on Washington Township's artificial turf.

Nice try. The Braves lost, 8-0.

"Skill beats heart every day," Zentz said. "We can get away with things on grass that we can't on [artificial] turf, and with their attack skills they seemed to be everywhere.

"Their stickwork skills were phenomenal. We're a long-ball team. We catch up [to passes] and pick it up, but a long-ball team doesn't do as well on a fast surface. Township had nice, short passes."

Williamstown forward Justine Mattia finished her junior year with 24 goals and 14 assists, making her the ideal player around whom to build an attack next year.

An own-goal in field hockey doesn't occur as often as it does in soccer, but it does happen, and Eastern's Geena Lesiak feels bad about it.

The senior midfielder accidentally tipped in an opposing shot Monday, and that accounted for Absegami's lone goal in an 11-1 loss to the Vikings in quarterfinal action.

"It was my fault," Lesiak said. "Because it was a corner [shot] the ball lifted and tipped off my stick.

"I kind of feel bad because it took away from a shutout for our goalie, but it didn't affect the outcome of the game."

Eastern keeper Alana Barry, a freshman, has 16 shutouts.

Thea Ricci, Audubon's field hockey coach, registered her 100th career win Oct. 27 with a 3-0 shutout over Burlington City in the final regular season game of the year.

Entering the postseason, six area players had 20 or more goals: Eastern's Kelsey Mitchell, 29; West Deptford's Jamie Robinson, 26; Williamstown's Justine Mattia, 24; Glassboro's Ashlee Willis, 23; Middle Township's Lee DeLollis, 21 and Ocean City's Colleen Slaughter, 21.

Team Record

Records through Tuesday. Last week's rankings are in parentheses.

1.

Eastern (1) 19-2

2.

Washington Twp. (2) 17-2

3.

Bishop Eustace (3) 17-2

4.

Shawnee (4) 17-4

5.

Moorestown (5) 16-2-1

6.

Ocean City (6) 19-0-1

7.

Glassboro (7) 16-2-1

8.

Haddonfield (8) 13-2-3

9.

West Deptford (9) 17-2-2-

10.

Kingsway (10) 14-3-1

Under consideration (listed alphabetically):

Camden Catholic (11-5-2), Delran (15-3-2), Gloucester (10-2-5), Holy Spirit (14-2-1), St. Joseph (15-2-1).

- Bill Iezzi