OCEAN CITY – The Red Raider field hockey team opened the season with shutout wins over Millville and Egg Harbor Township and had a 2-0 lead over visiting Rancocas Valley Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately for Ocean City, the Red Devils tied the game and then scored three unanswered goals in the fourth period to win 5-2.
“We want to be a little more aggressive on defense,” head coach Kelsey Burke said after the game. “That was a thing we just talked about post-game. We lacked that today.
“RV is a good team. Credit to them, but I think we weren’t stepping out to tackle and they kind of dictated what was happening.”
Taylor Amstutz and Kate Cossaboon gave the Red Raiders the early lead in Saturday’s game. Cossaboon provided the assist on Amstutz’s goal and earned her own on a penalty shot.
Rancocas Valley tied the game in the third quarter, then exploded in the fourth.
Carly Seal provided the bulk of RV’s firepower, scoring three goals. Kayla Pastor added one and Ava Fisher had one and three assists. Madelyn Wilkinson made nine saves and her Ocean City counterpart, Taryn Dolka, had seven. Red Raider defender Madelyn Adamson also made a save right at the goal mouth after an attacker got past Dolka.
Red Devils coach Rachel Galante said her girls “turned a big page” with their win over Ocean City.
“We were down by two goals. Going into the game I knew they had a strong goalkeeper. I coached her when she was a little tater tot baby, 12 years old, but I knew that she was going to be good,” Galante said. “That was definitely something we were worried about.
“Two goals down. Super nervous. The girls made the comeback. Turned the page,” she said. “Senior Kayla (Pastor) scored a scrappy goal. I think everyone touched it before it went in. After that second quarter we talked to our girls about unity, coming together, being a unit, and thank God, they pulled out a W. We needed it today.”
The Red Devils lost 2-1 in overtime two days earlier to unbeaten Shawnee.
“We lost in O.T. the other day. It was something we wanted to avoid today,” Galante said.
The coach said the girls like coming to Ocean City to play the Red Raiders because they love the atmosphere with the stadium next to the beach. “That always pumps them up. Sunny day. Not too hot, which is always ideal for a field hockey game. We knew they would be skilled even though they’re young. Age and skill don’t have to correlate. We know that in athletics across the board, but we knew it would be a good game. Did I think the scoreline would be 5-2, absolutely not. Did my team amaze me today? Yeah. They blew my expectations out of the water.”
This year’s Red Raider squad is a mix of veterans and young players who made the varsity roster. At times Burke had two freshmen attackers – Stevie Wright and Casey Adamson – up front with veteran Julia Neff in Saturday’s game.
“We returned eight starters from last season so we do have a veteran core, but we do have some young players that are contributing right away and eager to be in the mix,” Burke said.
Burke is looking for leadership from her senior captains including Neff, Bre Fabi, Kate Cossaboon and Amstutz.
“Definitely those guys are providing leadership for sure, but everyone is contributing leadership wise. We’re really focusing on holding ourselves accountable, so if we do that we should be in a better spot,” she said.
Against Millville in the season opener, Neff had three goals, Mia Pancoast had two and Wright, Adamson, Ginger Mumman and Amstutz had one each. Against Egg Harbor Township, Neff and Cossaboon had the goals while Dolka made seven saves. The Red Raiders peppered the Eagles goalie with shots but Semra Alabarda was able to make 18 saves to keep the game close.
The Red Raiders travel to Seneca for a 3:30 p.m. game Thursday and host Haddonfield at 10 a.m. Saturday at Carey Stadium.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
