Dodgers Field Hockey Drops Opener vs. State Power

The Madison field hockey team's mission to defend its 2009 state title got off to a tough start, as head coach Ann Marie Davies and company fell to the Peddie School, 5-2, on Friday in Madison.

The Dodgers have a lot of fresh faces in the starting lineup, and Peddie came into town with the swagger of being back-to-back Prep A state champions.

"Peddie is a real good team and I'm happy we got to play them in a real game, but it's too bad that we lost our first one," said Madison captain and lone goal scorer, Allison Helwig. "We're going to just keep working hard in practice and keep putting it together."

Madison struggled as a unit to find a sense of chemistry. Not a simple task, especially with time ticking off of the clock.

"We're still working on putting our team together," Helwig said. "It's a lot of work in the beginning of the season, especially when you have a lot of new talent."

Right from the start, though, Madison looked strong as it controlled the ball in the offensive zone and set up good opportunities.

But an inability to capitalize, coupled with costly turnovers, led to an immediate change of momentum.

"They grabbed the momentum in the beginning and we're not used to being behind like that," Davies explained. "(Peddie is) a good team, good stick to stick, and they're fast, that's why they were state champs last year. We've got a lot of work to do."

Breakaway opportunities inside the first 15 minutes of the half led to Maddie Copeland and Mary-Rose Croddick helping Peddie to a 2-0 lead, and they would never look back.

"Two goals were scored off of breakaways," Davies said. "Our positioning was off, it's inexperience."

The Peddie School would come out hot in the second half as well, as Copeland tacked on two more goals in the first six minutes, giving her three for the game, and her team a 4-0 lead.

But just as things started getting out of hand for the Dodgers, Helwig, who was the team's leader on offense, got Madison on the board.

With a penalty shot awarded to Madison just seconds after the Peddie goal, Davies chose the senior to take the shot. Helwig wasted no time, scoring Madison's first goal of the contest.

Helwig would add another before the final buzzer, but it wouldn't be enough as Madison dropped its opener, 5-2.

"We're a young team," Davies said. "We'll work hard and we'll come back. I think we started to get to them in the end, but it was a little too late."

But one loss doesn't make a season, and it's clear that this game hasn't altered the goals of this team, as both captain and coach know what they have to do from here.

"We'll work it out by the end of the season, because we plan on defending our state title," Helwig said.

"We'll do it," Davies said. "It's just a young, inexperienced team. We'll work. We'll come back."

Up next for Madison is a home showdown against Boonton on Monday at 4 p.m.