Field Hockey: Morristown tops Ridge in N1G4 semifinals
MORRISTOWN - After clinching the Morris County Tournament title in October for the first time since 1991, the Morristown High School field hockey team extended its historic season with a win Wednesday afternoon.
On the strength of goals by Olivia Graham and Callie Sundin, the top-seeded Colonials shut out fifth-seeded Ridge, 2-0, in the NJSIAA North 1 Group IV semifinals to advance to the final.
The Colonials (19-1-1) will face either second-seeded Montclair or third-seeded Randolph in the final on Friday.
“This team plays really well together,” Morristown coach Diane DiSalvo said. “They’re very talented with their sticks, there’s some nice passing, and they’re taking some nice shots and scoring.”
Both teams played very well defensively in the first half as both offenses were unable to score within the first 27 minutes. With the first half destined to be a scoreless affair, Graham scored with 2:51 left to play to give the Colonials a 1-0 halftime lead.
“You have to keep plugging away,” DiSalvo said. “A one goal lead is never safe.”
The Colonials were able to score an insurance goal about 10 minutes into the second half when Sundin scored to push the Morristown advantage to 2-0.
For Ridge (9-13-1), the goal right before halftime was not necessarily as big of a blow as expected considering the Red Devils have found themselves in similar situations this season and have come back to tie the score. Converting on corners, however, seemed to be their Achilles’ heel on Wednesday.
“We had a ton of corner opportunities, but the pieces didn’t come together,” Ridge coach Kim Clark said. “I don’t want to take anything away from Morristown, their defense played great today, but as far as scoring opportunities, I think we could have executed better on our corners.
After making it to the Somerset County Tournament semifinals, the Red Devils’ season ends in the sectional semifinals. For a team that lost nine games by a single goal, the Red Devils did not let the tough breaks stop them from making deep runs in the county and state tournaments.
“Above and beyond, the comradery and the senior leadership, the tone the 11 seniors set from the offseason moving on for the entire season, their resiliency and positive attitude is what will stick with me about this particular group,” Clark said. “It’s really tough for a team to continue to battle the way they did. To make a strong run in both the county and state tournaments says a lot about the kids they are."
Staff Writer Daniel LoGiudice can be reached at dlogiudice@gannettnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @danny_logiudice.