SAVING GRACE: Stuart Country Day School field hockey goalie Sam Johnson kicks the ball away in a game earlier this season. Last Saturday, senior star Johnson made 20 saves in a losing cause as 11th-seeded Stuart fell 1-0 at sixth-seeded Princeton High in the opening round of the Mercer County Tournament. The Tartans, who improved to 7-6-1 with a 1-0 win over South Hunterdon last Monday, start play in the state Prep B tourney this week where they are seeded third and slated to host No. 6 Newark Academy in a quarterfinal contest on October 18. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Last fall, the Stuart Country Day School field hockey team saved its best for last.
Producing a dramatic run, Stuart toppled two higher seeds on the way to making the state Prep B title game where it fell to Princeton Day School.
While the Tartans came up short in two tough games last week, falling 4-2 to the Blair Academy last Wednesday in a regular season contest and then dropping a 1-0 nail-biter to Princeton High in the opening round of the Mercer County Tournament on Saturday, Stuart head coach Missy Bruvik believes her team is poised for another big finish.
“We came off a really terrific game against Blair, they are a very good team,” said Bruvik.
“That is one of the best games we have played as a team all year. To go to the next game and play 60 hard, hard minutes will help us going forward. We have the state tournament coming up.”
In the MCT loss to sixth-seeded PHS, the 11th seeded Tartans thwarted the Little Tigers for 58 minutes before yielding the decisive goal.
“Kudos to our defense,” said Bruvik, in assessing her team’s effort against PHS.
“Breasia Williams did well coming out and helping us to be able to put pressure on a very fast offensive unit, starting in the midfield.”
Senior goalie Sam Johnson thrived under the pressure against PHS, making 20 saves.
“Sam is fearless; she is so focused no matter who we are playing,” said Bruvik. “She lays it all out there; she did whatever she had to do to make those saves.”
Stuart needs to be sharper at both ends of the field as it starts play in the state Prep B tourney where it is seeded third and slated to host No. 6 Newark Academy in a quarterfinal contest on October 18.
“I love our corner plays; I wish we had gotten more and tested them a little bit more when we had numbers up,” said Bruvik, whose team edged South Hunterdon 1-0 last Monday to improve to 7-6-1.
“We gave up a lot of shots. We know we have to be limiting opportunities as we continue to get better and better down the stretch.”