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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Sparked by Kirnan's Midfield Versatility, Hun Field Hockey Produces Strong Start
By Bill Alden
Catching fire down the stretch last season, the Hun School field hockey team won three of its last four games to advance to the state Prep A championship game.
This summer, the Raiders, who fell to Lawrenceville in that title game, seemed to take a step backwards as they produced sluggish efforts in their preseason scrimmages.
But in its season opener last Friday against visiting George School, Hun recaptured the intensity it displayed late last fall in battling the Cougars to a 0-0 overtime tie.
Senior midfielder and co-captain Katie Kirnan was pleasantly surprised by how Hun came out of the gate.
"Our play today was much improved from our scrimmages during August and early September," said Kirnan with a smile.
"We had a lot of really good transition play. We had a lot of hustle and overall enthusiasm. It was a very intense game; it was very well played by both teams."
Kirnan, normally an offensive sparkplug for Hun, took a bigger role on the defensive end as the Raiders were under intense pressure several times during the second half.
"I found myself playing a lot of defense today," said Kirnan. "There was a lot of back and forth. I play center midfield so I try to help with the transition and distribute things wide."
For Hun head coach Antoinette Allen, it was a good transition as she made her regular season debut at the helm of the program. "I didn't think the scrimmages showed how well we could play,” said Allen, a former field hockey player at Columbia University who is replacing Sarah Ostermueller.
"It was a great game. We were doing transition, we were moving the ball. It was just beautiful hockey. From the start, we had two shots in the first five minutes. They just completely jelled."
While Allen may have feared that her team was headed for a shaky start, she wasn't overly surprised that her players rose to the occasion.
"We're just impressed with the caliber of the athletes on our team," asserted Allen. "We knew we had good leadership; we knew we had good talent. Today, we showed it."
In Allen's view, one of the best leaders is Kirnan. "Katie is a great midfielder," added Allen. “She moves the ball well. She is one of our key players."
Hun also got a top-rate effort from junior goalkeeper Saran DiLeo, who was not only making her varsity debut but was playing in her first field hockey game.
"She was excellent,” said Allen of DiLeo, who made several big saves to preserve the shutout. "She is a former soccer player; I think goalkeeping is her thing. The defense was communicating; they were playing as a group."
Although Hun didn't find the back of the cage in the opener, Allen expressed confidence that her club would break out offensively.
"I think that will happen,” said Allen, who notched her first win at Hun on Saturday when the Raiders trounced Nottingham 7-1 with Kirnan and junior Tyler Willey both scoring two goals. "The more time we have near the cage, the more goals we will get. We've got our corners down."
In Kirnan's view, the intensity that Hun displayed Friday will yield dividends offensively. “We've had trouble scoring; the offense is something we need to work on,” said Kirnan, who will look to help Hun keep rolling when it plays at WW/P-S on September 21, at Pennington on September 22, and at Mercersburg Academy on September 24 before hosting WW/P-N on September 26. "We have a large group of forwards. The young girls are really enthusiastic, they will definitely step up."
With an enthusiastic leader like Kirnan spearheading the midfield, Hun appears ready to step up right from the start this fall.
