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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Stuart Field Hockey Falls in MCT Final; Primed to Rebound in Prep B Tourney
By Bill Alden
For nearly a month, the Stuart Country Day School field hockey team's defense has been impregnable.
After giving up a goal in a 6-1 rout over Pennington on October 4, the Tartans proceeded to reel off eight straight shutouts coming into last Saturday's Mercer County Tournament title game against powerful Allentown.
With a foggy mist enveloping the turf field at Mercer County Community College, the second-seeded Tartans thwarted the top-seeded and undefeated Redbirds in the early stages of the mid-morning clash.
But with the stadium lights going on about 25 minutes into the game, Allentown's vaunted attack came alive. All-State forward Lindsey Leck got free on a breakaway and banged in a goal with 3:21 left in the half. Just over two minutes later, Amy Hierhager fought through a traffic jam in the circle to add a second goal for Allentown. The Tartans fought valiantly in the second half but could not find the back of the cage as they lost 2-0, marking the second straight year they have fallen to the Redbirds in the MCT championship game.
In the wake of the defeat, Stuart head coach Missy Bruvik acknowledged that her club had its hands full in trying to stop the high-flying Allentown team that is now 18-0-1 and boasts three of the top scorers in the area in Leck, Janine Rini, and Jordan Freese.
"We were playing a team with great speed," said Bruvik, whose club dropped to 15-3 with the loss. "They have great athletic moves. It was a whole new challenge for us today."
Bruvik was proud of how her club responded to the challenge of trailing by two goals for the first time this season. "I think when you get down 2-0, it makes you think what you are about," explained Bruvik, whose club generated 13 penalty corners in the game.
"Are you going to come out and hold your heads high and play. We told the girls that they had options. We had thirty minutes, there is a lot of time on the clock. I think we played hard and had a great second half. We created a lot of opportunities to put the ball in. I think that second half says more about us than the whole game."
The work of Stuart's star goalie, Christa Goeke, who made some outstanding saves, also drew Bruvik's praise. "I think that today Christa rose to the occasion," declared Bruvik of her star junior who leads the area in goals against average and save percentage. "She's an outstanding keeper. The kids know they how fortunate we are to have her."
With the Tartans playing in the state Prep B tournament this week, Bruvik thinks her charges will benefit from having battled Allentown.
"I think we are very fortunate to have had a chance to play a team like Allentown," added Bruvik. "They're outstanding. I think we earned that opportunity with our regular season play."
As Stuart opens state tourney play by hosting Ranney School on November 3 with the winner to play in the title game on November 7, the top-seeded Tartans will be primed to rebound from the loss to Allentown,
"They are always determined," asserted Bruvik, managing a smile as she reflected on her team's tenacity. "I think they will come back hard. They want to end it with a victory."
