Eastern rolls into T of C final

Eastern showed Bishop Eustace what playing in the Tournament of Champions field hockey semifinals is all about.

Cori Allen hustled, weaved and dodged, and made solid inserts on penalty corners to register a hat trick and two assists Wednesday at Hunterdon Central as the Vikings rolled to a 7-1 victory over the Crusaders, who made their debut in the lofty competition.

The win improved Eastern to 26-0 and catapulted the 12-time NJSIAA Group 4 state champions to their fourth T of C final in the five-year history of the event. Eastern, the defending T of C champ, is scheduled to meet the winner of the Oak Knoll–Freehold Borough semifinal at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Eustace (20-4) finished a season in which it won its first sectional title since 1982. The third-seeded Crusaders were a heavy underdog against Eastern, the No. 2 seed.

"I was ready to come out and play from the beginning," said Allen, a senior forward. "This being my last year, I'm going out with the best I can do.

"Their defense is strong. I just think our offense was clicking today. We were playing together. We were in the zone."

That might have been an understatement. The Vikings exhibited a balanced attack that had Eustace on its heels most of the game.

Eastern, which has allowed 10 goals in 26 games, had the Crusaders pinned in their own end for much of the first half.

Allen scored the first goal of the game 21 minutes, 16 seconds into the action, and Eastern increased its lead to 3-0 with 9:26 left in the first half.

Eustace got a goal back when Gabby Latorre scored on an assist from Alessandra Farnesi about five minutes later to narrow the lead to 3-1.

By intermission, Eastern had outshot Eustace, 15-2, and had nine corners to one for the Crusaders. In all, the Vikings outshot the Crusaders, 23-7, and outcornered them, 16-5.

"Scoring on them was important to me because they have not been scored on much this season," Eustace coach Krissy Holak said.

"Eastern is a dynasty. They deserve the No. 1 seed. But my kids fought all the way to the end."

After intermission, Eustace replaced sophomore Alex Pecora, the starting goalkeeper, with senior Sam Walters, but it didn't change things. Carly Celkos and Allen scored the first two goals off corners, which are a source of pride for Eastern coach Danyle Heilig. Allen and Emma Johansson then expanded a 5-1 lead to 7-1.

Heilig was looking forward to the T of C championship game, which Eastern won in 2006, 2008, and 2009, but she wasn't happy about the seedings.

"Where we're seeded, I think it's the NJSIAA's way of guaranteeing a North-South final, which they try to do every year, and it's bogus to me, but we're just going to play," Heilig said.

Bishop Eustace   1 0 – 1

Eastern   3 4 – 7

Goals: BE–Gabby Latorre; E–Cori Allen 3, Jade Dixon, Kasey Morano, Carly Celkos, Emma Johansson.

Saves: BE–Alex Pecora 10, Sam Walters 4; E–Alana Barry 6.