Field Hockey Gears Up for Winning Season

Fall sports are about to start for Montville Township High School varsity squads. As opening day approaches, we look at teams as they ready for competition.

OVERVIEW

The Mustangs return a lot of players that earned varsity letters last year but were not necessarily starters. The Montville players are comfortable within their system and style of play and have been well schooled by long-time coach Jennifer Mulvaney, but now many are stepping into new roles. They have experience on the defensive end and are striving to be a more offensive-minded squad. They expect to improve from last year’s 7-8-3 record and hope to build on the confidence gained from finishing 4-0-1 over the final five games of the season.

LAST SEASON'S RESULTS

The Mustangs were a respectable team that finished the season with a flourish. They did not qualify for state tournament play and suffered an opening round knockout in Morris County Tournament competition.

KEEP YOUR EYE ON 

    •    Maura Johnston, Forward (Sr.)—She’s the Mustang’s playmaker. She sees the field very well and should be able to create opportunities for her teammates when she’s not hitting the net herself. She’s an excellent communicator.

    •    Danica Witty, Defender (Sr.)—She will fluctuate between midfield and back. She’s a scrappy, tough kid who gets low on defense. Witty’s a terrific one-on-one defender who also plays the passing lanes extremely well. She can be very intense.

    •    Aimee Vizzuso, Midfielder (Jr.)—She’s committed to field hockey year round and is one of the Mustangs that may be ready for a breakout season.

THEY'LL MISS

    •    Serena Casazzo, Center mid —She controlled the tempo for the Mustangs. She was the first option on corners and an all-around fluid player.

    •    Ali Koch, Forward—She made things happen on the team. Koch was another great leader and heady performer.

    •    Brooke Marks, Midfield—The strong, silent type. She played a big part end line to end line and led by example on the field.

COACH'S TAKE

    •    "I’m optimistic. They are a great group of kids. They work hard. Any suggestions we give them are immediately implemented. I would like to see all their hard work pay off. They are a very coachable group." —Mulvaney

THEY SAID IT

    •    "We’ve been focusing a lot more on offense so that should put us ahead a little more. This year we have an offensive captain, a defensive captain and a midfield captain so that should pay off pretty well. The younger players have a person to go to for each position they play so it’s a little more specific." —Johnston

     •    "We definitely have the urge to win. We do not want to lose. In the summer we did clinics together. Most of us are fitting into the spots that the seniors left open from last year. Last year I played defense and now I’m fitting into midfield. A lot of our other upperclassmen are getting changed around, too. We’re not playing the same positions we did last year." —Witty

    •    "Scoring has always been a problem. We could always do nice things up and down the field but we’ve never been able to finish. This year I think we’re ready. We know what our problem is. We’ve been afraid to go all out in the circle. We’re trying to make it look too pretty. Coach has put it in our minds that’s it’s important to score and not to care about how we do it. We want to keep our winning streak going and keep on scoring." —Heidi Avrov

Fall Sports Previews

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday: Field Hockey

Friday: Football