ON HER GAME: Princeton High field hockey player Mariana Lopez-Ona, right, heads upfield in a game earlier this season. Last Friday, senior star Lopez-Ona scored two goals to help top-seeded PHS defeat eighth-seeded Monroe 4-1 in the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional quarterfinals.  The Little Tigers, now 15-1, were slated to host fifth-seeded Rancocas Valley in the sectional semis on October 30 with the victor advancing to the title game on November 1. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

With the Princeton High field hockey team locked in a tense 1-1 battle against visiting Monroe in the second half of the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional quarterfinals last Friday, PHS got a golden opportunity as it was awarded a penalty stroke.

Little Tiger senior star Mariana Lopez-Ona bent over the ball, fired it to the  goal and then put her head in her hands in dismay after the shot was stopped.

Lopez-Ona kept her head up, though, tallying a goal minutes later to give PHS a 2-1 lead.

“Everyone was really there and we were pushing it,” said Lopez-Ona, reflecting on the goal. “We were able to keep fighting at it.”

The first-seeded Little Tigers pulled away to a 4-1 win over eighth-seeded Monroe, improving to 15-1. PHS was slated to host fifth-seeded Rancocas Valley in the sectional semis on October 30 with the victor advancing to the title game on November 1.

“After I missed the stroke, everyone came together for me and the team and it showed that we need to be together,” said Lopez-Ona.

“I think we really finished it in the end, everyone brought it together, like Megan [Mavoides], Ellie [Wilkinson]. We really played more together as soon as we got into the second half.”

Lopez-Ona acknowledged that a scrappy Monroe squad gave PHS fits in the early going as it took a 1-0 lead.

“They came out strong, they played a hard game and it kind of shocked us at first so we had to bring up our intensity,” said Lopez-Ona.

Showing her intensity, Lopez-Ona tallied late in the first half to tie the game at 1-1 and give the Little Tigers a lift

“The first goal was the final push that we needed,” said Lopez-Ona, who ended up with two goals and assist in the victory.

“We had it up there and we were doing a good job of keeping it and we just needed to finish it.”

PHS head coach Heather Serverson liked the way her players stuck with things after a sluggish start.

“We didn’t start out playing our game, we played their game,” said Serverson.

“It took us a while to warm up. Once we got a goal in the cage, the momentum started to get rolling and things just fell into place. They started connecting, they started talking.”

Serverson credited Monroe with making things hard for PHS. “Monroe definitely challenged us; they had good sticks; they were stopping everything if we didn’t move the ball,” said Serverson.

“We just had to make some adjustments, we started moving the ball. We made sure that we were communicating so we didn’t have two people moving to the ball. We started connecting.”

Lopez-Ona proved to be up for the challenge as she bounced back from the missed stroke.

“Mariana did a great job of staying composed; that could not have been easy as a leader,” said Serverson, who also got goals from Renee Hoevers and Eleanor Wilkinson in the win.

“She recovered quickly and then she had some great inspiring words for the team. We pulled it together at that moment, I was just really happy to see it.”

Pulling it together against the Falcons should help the Little Tigers going forward.

“What we learned from this game is that we need to start off with our game,” said Serverson.

“We need to worry about us, we need to worry about Princeton. We need to worry about connecting and scoring and not worry about what the other team is doing.”

In the view of Lopez-Ona, the way the team has connected this fall has made her final season of field hockey something to savor.

“It has been a great year; it has been my best season because of the team chemistry,” said Lopez-Ona, who is headed to the University of Michigan where she will play for its women’s lacrosse team.

“There are a lot of seniors and we are all good friends. Everyone has come together. Practice is a fun time. It is definitely a good way to end my field hockey career.”