Field Hockey: Bridgewater-Raritan regroups after graduation losses

Roster turnover is something every high school team in every sport deals with, and the Bridgewater-Raritan High School field hockey team will be tasked with replacing its two best players in Ally Mastroianni and Sarah Dimock this fall.

For a team that doesn’t have a feeder program for the sport, the Panthers would seemingly have a tough time replacing a once-in-a-lifetime player in Mastroianni and a Division I field hockey player in Dimock. But the Panthers have reached the state final 12 years in a row and always seem to, somehow, rebound with the arrival of reinforcements.

“Year after year we have a group of great athletes that come together and play with heart,” Bridgewater-Raritan coach Alyssa Frazier said. “I wouldn’t say we’re ever the most skilled team, but we have athletes who work really hard and play with heart, and sometimes that’s better than having a group of girls with great skills but don’t play together and don’t play with heart.”

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Mastroianni, despite the fact that field hockey was not her primary sport, emerged as one of the best players in the state over four seasons. The current University of North Carolina lacrosse player finished her high school field hockey career with 87 goals and 71 assists. Dimock tallied 17 goals and 19 assists for her high school swan song last fall.

But losing such talent may not be as big of a problem for the Panthers as it would for most other teams. Field hockey players seem to crawl out of the ground or fall from the sky, as evidenced by Bridgewater-Raritan's 12-straight state final appearances.

What makes the Panthers’ consistent turnover even more impressive is the lack of youth field hockey programs in the town. No recreational program exists, and the only camp around is Frazier’s own four-day summer camp.

“It’s incredible to me that we’ve been so incredible at field hockey considering we don’t have a feeder program,” Frazier said. “Soccer, football, lacrosse all have programs, but field hockey doesn’t have one, so a lot of girls don’t pick up sticks until eighth grade. Some don’t start until freshman year. They work hard, and that’s the difference.”

One of the players expected to fill the void of the departed seniors is Rachel White, whose primary sport is lacrosse. The senior, who recorded 20 goals and 19 assists in 2016, played forward a season ago but will drop back to the center midfielder position to fill in the hole left by Mastroianni.

“Ally was an amazing player, definitely one of the best in the state, she’s not someone easily replaced,” White said. “As a team, we’ve been working hard. I think we’re going to be able to come together and work on team chemistry. As a whole, we’ll be able to keep play elevated and fill the void.”

As has been the case in recent memory, the Panthers will keep pumping out quality players despite graduation losses. Freshman Alex Hobbs is an intriguing youngster. As the only freshman starter from a year ago, Hobbs will move from a defensive role to a more offensive one.

Juniors Tai Jankowski and Sadie Harmon provide depth and experience while sophomore Madison Bray is another youngster eager to prove herself.

Staff Writer Daniel LoGiudice can be reached at dlogiudice@gannettnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @danny_logiudice.