RBC field hockey sits near top of A Central
BY DOUG McKENZIE Correspondent
The Red Bank Catholic girls field hockey team has surprised its veteran coach a bit this season.

While Lisa Caprioni expected her team to play at a high level by the season's end, she admits that the team's early success has the Caseys ahead of schedule.

"I'd say we're doing a little bit better than I expected, being that we lost a lot of people from last year," Caprioni said. "I knew we were going to take some lumps early on with some new players, especially playing in our very tough division, where most teams have gotten better.

"We're really starting to gel, which is something I was a little concerned about since these girls hadn't had that much field time together coming in."

Thus far, the Caseys are 6-3-1 coming off an impressive 3-0 win over a good Raritan team (5-2-2) on Saturday. Senior forward Allison Porzio notched two goals and an assist, while goalie Emily Recchia posted her sixth shutout of the year, while making six saves. With the win, the Caseys put themselves in a second-place tie with the Rockets, trailing topranked and unbeaten Holmdel in the Shore Conference Class A Central.

When the season began, Caprioni called on a group of seniors to emerge as the leaders of this year's team, and they have responded. Led by Porzio, this group also includes Kristen Carter, who solidifies the backfield, Mara Kathaw, who plays "everywhere" according to her coach, forward Margeaux Dilline and Mary Beth Weimer, who plays on the forward line and in the midfield at times.

"All five of them start and basically do my job on the field by keeping the other kids focused and ready to play," Caprioni said.

Perhaps the biggest surprise early on has been the play of Recchia, as the sophomore has been stellar in net from day one.

"This is a girl who didn't tend goal until two days into the preseason in August," the coach said. "And here she is with (six) shutouts already.

"We had a kid who we groomed as a goalie last year, but right before the season she was offered a spot on some travel softball team, and decided to concentrate on that and couldn't make the commitment to our team, So we had to find someone, and Emily has stepped up and played extremely well in her new role."

As for the rest of the team, Caprioni said a number of younger players have performed well through the first 10 games, which has her feeling optimistic about her team's chances once the tournaments start rolling around.

"I'm still playing around with some combinations a little bit, so we don't have a set line-up just yet," she said. "But I'm very happy with where we're at. Hopefully we'll be getting some people back that have been fighting injuries soon, so we can be at full strength down the stretch."

The one area of concern for Caprioni has been in the offense's inability to score consistently.

"The offensive line's got to work on scoring goals," she said. "We definitely need a bit more of a punch up there. Right now, I'm rotating in five or six different kids on that line, just looking for something to click. The girls are doing a great job of creating scoring opportunities; we just can't seem to finish plays at times."

That being said, Caprioni expects her team to improve in that regard, based on their willingness to put in the work needed to get better.

"This is a great group of girls that works very hard," the coach said. "I think we could potentially be one of the better teams in the Shore, but maybe not just yet. We've certainly got some room to grow."

RBC was scheduled to take on Matawan yesterday, and will have an opportunity to take on the Shore's top team when they host Holmdel at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The Hornets handed RBC a 2-0 defeat when the two teams met back on Sept. 25.

The Caseys entered the week ranked seventh in the Shore, though the win on Friday over Raritan certainly will vault them past the sixth-ranked Rockets. Holmdel sits atop the rankings, followed by a trio of undefeated team from Wall Township, Freehold Borough and Rumson-Fair Haven.

The Bulldogs' 8-0-1 record includes a Sept. 24 win over Shore Regional in a game that left some people pointing at the Bulldogs as the conference's team to beat.

Caprioni, however, is not so sure.

"I know they beat Shore a couple of weeks ago, but I guarantee you once the (Shore Conference) Tournament rolls around, Shore will be the team to beat once again," she said. "We played Rumson to a (0-0) tie, and I saw Shore in the preseason; that is a very, very good team once again."

While Caprioni still views Shore as the class of the conference, she admits that the gap is closing significantly.

"There's so much parity in the Shore this year; so many quality teams," she said. "Other than Shore, there are from two to 10 teams in the conference that could emerge as one of the teams to beat. It should make for a very interesting regular season and tournament."