(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) STRAIGHT SHOOTER: Stuart Country Day field hockey star Jackie Gaudioso-Radvany fires a shot in Stuart’s 2-1 victory over Allentown in the Mercer County Tournament title game last Sunday at Mercer County Community College. Gaudioso-Radvany tallied a first half goal to help the Tartans win their third straight MCT crown. Stuart, now 18-1-2, will go after another championship as it hosts Newark Academy on October 31 in the state Prep semis with the winner advancing to the title game on November 4.

Powered by Gaudioso-Radvany’s Shooting, Stuart Field Hockey Wins 3rd Straight MCT

Bill Alden

Facing high-powered Allentown last Sunday in the Mercer County Tournament title game, the Stuart Country Day field hockey team found itself under the gun.

With the wind whipping across the field turf at the Mercer County Community College stadium, the Tartans got off to a sluggish start.

Playing as though the chilly breeze was in their face, Stuart was a step slow to the ball as its offense struggled to get anything going.

But with one blast from its top gun, junior forward Jackie Gaudioso-Radvany, the Tartans found their stride.

Firing in a beautiful goal with 18:38 remaining in the first half, Gaudioso-Radvany gave the Tartans a 1-0 lead which they held until early in the second half.

Allentown, though, wasn’t about to get blown away as the Redbirds scored a goal with 9:52 left in the game.

Gaudioso-Radvany’s running mate at forward, classmate Caroline Passano, answered back almost immediately as she banged home a feed from Sarah Schulte to give Stuart a 2-1 lead and what proved to be the final margin of victory.

The win gave Stuart its third straight MCT crown with the game marking the fifth straight year that the two proud programs had met in the county final.

Afterward, Gaudioso-Radvany maintained that she thrives on playoff pressure.

“I think when things are at stake, I want it bad,” said Gaudioso-Radvany, who leads Stuart in scoring with 24 goals and nine assists. “I think everyone here wants it bad; we change our level of play.”

Gaudioso-Radvany took the Tartans on her back in the MCT, scoring two goals in the Tartans’ 3-0 win over Hun in the quarterfinals and then scoring both goals in the dramatic 2-1 overtime win against Robbinsville in the county semis.

The Tartans had to raise their level of play when Allentown knotted the game. “You’ve always got to worry, there was not a lot of time left,” recalled Gaudioso-Radvany, who helped Stuart edge Pingry 1-0 last Monday in a regular season game to improve to 18-1-2 on the season.

“Within seconds, we scored again so that was really fun. We come back every time. The one thing our team really does is to back each other up.”

At the beginning of the fall, Gaudioso-Radvany had her doubts about whether Stuart had the fire power to make it back to the MCT final.

“I thought we were going to be in trouble with the whole five senior thing,” said Gaudioso-Radvany, referring to the team’s loss to graduation of such stars as Kelly Bruvik, Liz Colicchio, Megan Fitzpatrick, and Eleanor Hayes-Larson. “It just goes to prove you wrong again. We came back and that’s what this team does the best.”

Stuart had to be at its best as it dueled Allentown once again with the county title at stake.

“I know they wanted it bad,” said Gaudioso-Radvany, who sported a head band fashioned from yellow police caution tape.

“It is exciting, we’ve got it for three years now and they had it for two. It’s just fun playing them over and over again.”

It has been fun for Stuart’s first-year had coach Katie Grant to see Gaudioso-Radvany come through over and over again.

“That first goal was great; you don’t get many goals prettier than that,” said Grant, a former star forward for Duke who went to three NCAA Final Fours during her college career and earned All-American honors for the Blue Devils in her senior season in 2005.

“Jackie was working hard out there. A lot of times calls don’t go her way but that’s OK, she fights through it. She does what she needs to do. She had a lot of other great shots today but they were a little high. But she gets them off and that’s the biggest thing for a forward.”

Grant is also getting good things at forward from Passano. “She’s really good in there; she’s good in the circle,” said Grant. “She’s a feisty forward; she gets those goal touches which make a big difference.”

The rookie coach acknowledged that Stuart had some trouble finding its touch in the early going on Sunday.

“I felt like we had a tough first half; we were a little slow to the ball, it was not our normal quick start,” said Grant.

“I know their work ethic and how much they wanted this; you could see it by the look in their eyes. Once they got going, I had total faith in them. I questioned whether to call a timeout after the Allentown goal but I thought they were going to play through it.”

Keeping the faith in her players gave Grant an emotional high rivaling the highlights she experienced during her Duke career.

“It’s a little surreal right now,” asserted Grant. “I’m so excited for them. While they are the ones that are playing and I’m the one that is coaching, it’s so nice to see all their hard work paying off; for them to be completing what they started in August.”

Now Grant is hoping that the team can take care of one bit of unfinished business as it goes after the Prep title that has eluded the Tartans the last two years.

“It’s fun,” said Grant, whose top-seeded club will host No. 4 Newark Academy on October 31 in the Prep semifinals with the winner advancing to the November 4 title game.

“Having got one tournament out of the way, it’s exciting going on to the next. It’s going to be tough.”

Gaudioso-Radvany, for her part, thinks the Tartans can successfully navigate through the grind of playing two tournaments simultaneously.

“That’s the goal; we’re going to help the seniors get a state championship,” asserted Gaudioso-Radvany.

“Our team can definitely handle it; this is our year. That’s the feeling for everyone here, all eleven players on the field.”

And with Gaudioso-Radvany on the field for Stuart, the Tartans certainly have the look of a championship team.

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