The Nottingham Girls Field Hockey Team poses for a picture. Photo by Rick “The Voice” Taylor
By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
Oct. 12: When Nottingham High’s field hockey team won two of its first three games this year it appeared things were turning around for the Northstars program.
When a 10-game winless streak (0-9-1) followed, it appeared that early start might have been an illusion.
But Nottingham got it back together just in time, taking a 3-0 win over host Hamilton West Wednesday in a Mercer County Tournament play-in game.
It marks the Stars first MCT win since defeating Hamilton in 2012, and is the first time since the 2011 team went 4-16-1 that Nottingham has won three games in a season.
According to forward Paige Rocco, who put the game out of reach with a late goal, Nottingham (3-10-1) was not playing as bad as its record indicated during the losing streak.
“Even though we weren’t winning the past couple weeks, we were playing better than last year,” she said. “Our games were pretty close. We were playing hard; we worked as a team. Today we just really wanted it coming in.”
Paige Rocco works the ball downfield. Photo by Wes “The Media Mogul” Kirkpatrick.
The Stars’ winless streak started with a loss to Hamilton (2-11), and Rocco admitted that Nottingham might not have been ready for that one.
“I think last time we thought it was going to be easier than it was,” she said. “Today we knew we had to push ourselves to get the win.
“I think today we just wanted it even more, we worked as a team. We had the intensity that we didn’t have the last time we played them.”
Nottingham’s confidence got a huge boost early in the game when Sephora Innocent was guilty of murder, as her two goals off penalty corners killed Hamilton. Rocco and Kelly Yesenosky had the assists and the Hornets never got back in it.
“That really helped because we knew West could easily score,” Rocco said. “Last time we played them they got two goals in one half.”
That would not happen this time, however, as Nottingham limited Hamilton to five shots, which were all saved by Brianna Dunmeyer. When Rocco scored with five minutes left, she said, “I knew we had it then.
“We were confident coming into the game,” the sophomore continued. “After playing them before we knew it was a pretty close game and if we played as a team and worked hard we would be able to do it.”
The competition takes a big jump in talent, as Nottingham’s first-round game comes against top-seeded Robbinsville. No one figures the Northstars will get past that one, but Rocco doesn’t expect the Stars to self-extinguish.
“That’s gonna be a really hard game,” she said. “But as long as we play as a team and work hard and play intense, it will be all right. Just to be in it is a good thing.”
For now, she just wants to savor the special feeling from winning an MCT game.
“This means a lot to me,” Rocco said. “We’ve been working really hard and to come out today and win, it feels really good.”
