Monmouth team ready
for a state tourney run
Shore, RBC earn Shore Conference Tournament semifinal berths
By paul salus
Staff Writer

The Monmouth Regional High School, Tinton Falls, field hockey team lost to top-seeded Shore Regional High School, West Long Branch, 9-0 in the Shore Conference Tournament, leaving them waiting and watching for their seed in the upcoming state tournament.

Coach Peggy McKean voiced disappointment with the lopsided outcome, but has faith her team will respond in the states, bring their A game and advance.

"We didn’t have the powerful pushes and drives we would have needed to win this game," said McKean. "We played well at times, but we’re just overmatched in the end."

Being overmatched against Shore Regional is nothing to be ashamed of as the Blue Devils rank among the state’s elite teams. Nonetheless, McKean would have liked her team to have been a little more competitive.

This season will mark Monmouth’s fourth straight visit to the state tournament, and McKean hopes this experience will be enough to surpass their performance in 2001, wherein the team reached the third round.

"We always look forward to the postseason. We need to play our best, play up to, above and beyond the level of our opponents," said McKean. "With our experience, we seem to peak and play well when it counts."

Senior goalie Julia Case has had a solid season, while juniors Laura Flannery and Kelly Mesi lead the way offensively and have had a productive season for the Lady Falcons.

Monmouth will have to face Holmdel and Freehold Borough before the state tournament begins, and McKean hopes to use this time to fine tune both the squad’s offensive attack and defensive strategies.

"I just hope we can bounce back from this and get the job done in the states," said McKean. "Now we just sit and wait for our seeding and hope to get a good position. With our productivity in the past, I think we can make a solid showing in the states."

Shore cruising along in SCT play

Shore Regional’s top-ranked girls’ field hockey team moved another step closer to another conference crown on Monday with an 8-1 shellacking of Manasquan.

Lauren Hennessy scored three goals and assisted on four others as the Blue Devils improved to 16-0 on the year and earned a semifinal matchup with Middletown North on Wednesday.

A win there would earn the team a shot at the Red Bank Catholic-Southern winner in the finals.

RBC knocked off Central Regional, Bayville, 3-1 on Monday in their quarterfinal matchup. Kalynn Davies, Nicole Stephan and Casey Grier scored in a 12-minute period in the second half to lead the second-seeded Caseys to the semifinals.

While Shore remains the overwhelming favorite to claim conference supremacy, the Caseys remain the team most people expect to give Shore their greatest challenge. RBC is 15-0-1 on the season and has played every bit like a contender for the title so far.