By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
On X @tortreports
WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP — West Essex High field hockey coach Jill Cosse and her daughter, Adelaide Minnella, both know the number of bus rides they have left together are dwindling.
That’s why they appreciated Tuesday’s 113-mile trek down to South Jersey more than just any other ride.
West Essex traveled down the turnpike and proved once again why it is New Jersey’s top-ranked team by nj.com as the Knights scored a 3-1 victory over No. 4 Kingsway in a battle of perennial state powers.
Minnella came into the contest needing just two goals to reach 100 for her career, and inched one closer with her lone tally coming in the fourth quarter that gave the Knights a commanding three-goal lead over the Dragons in the final eleven minutes.
“I’m definitely (nervous),” Minnella said, speaking of nearing 100 career goals. “I think for the past couple weeks, I knew I was getting close to that 100 mark. As an athlete you always put pressure on yourself anyway, but I’m so lucky that I have a team around me that wants it for me just as much as I want it. They put the ball on my stick. For me, I just realized that it’s going to drop eventually this season. I need to play my game, I can’t force anything. I need to play my game with my teammates. If there’s an open pass and a crowded goal, I’m going to pass the ball and not force it.”
The triumph marked West Essex’s first win against Kingsway (10-6, 8-0 Tri-County Royal) in program history after tying the Dragons in 2022 and falling in 2023. Tuesday’s feat was especially rewarding for West Essex (17-2, 6-0 Essex/Union Red) after Kingsway handed the Knights their first shutout loss to another Garden State team since 2018 in a 2-0 decision in last year’s meeting.
Said coach Cosse: “I think it’s an incredible challenge. (Kingsway coach) Dana’s (Ott) awesome. Kingsway’s got an incredible program, and she’s just notched them up to the top of the world for New Jersey hockey. It’s always a challenge to play them. It’s an honor to be able to come down here and get to play them before states. It’s an awesome game because it’s more like an exhibition. In many ways it’s fun, because states are next and the season is done. It’s a great prelude to going into the state games.”
“They just have the speed and their two-touch passing is beautiful,” Ott said. “You have to give them credit for that. They have individual players who can really move and manipulate the ball. It’s fun to play a team like that. I’m proud of our girls today. I think they really stepped up. We’ve had a really hard schedule in kind of a rebuilding year where we lost major players, but the youngsters are stepping in. We have a whole new backfield, and we’re not winning all the games we have (in the past), but I’d rather lose close games to really good teams than blow teams out. That’s where we’re at right now.”
“Kingsway is a great team,” Minnella said. “We always love playing them. They’re not in our conference, they’re not in our division, they’re not even in our group. But playing them as an independent game always gives us a great fight. They have such great stick skills, kids in the middle, and kids on the outside. Playing them is really great for us, especially going into states because it prepares us really well for those certain teams, refs, or games that we have to fight.”
A Villanova commit, Minnella is on the verge of setting a historic record for one of the state’s most prestigious programs. In the 57-year history of West Essex field hockey, no player has ever scored 100 goals in their junior season. Eight players (Michelle Vizzuso, Kim Pantages, Natalie Cafone, Amanda Cassera, Lia Sinisi, Julia Russo, Ellie Decker, and Cait Lutz) have reached the mark, but the achievement came in their senior campaigns.
“I think it’s a little more special because she’ll be the first kid in her junior year to get it, but she’s got to get it, she’s got to earn it,” coach Cosse said. “I think with any kid ever getting a landmark number in any sport, it’s so much harder. Your last two and three goals to get there are harder. You have a lot of kids on you, you earned a reputation. The pressure is greater. Then it becomes a tug of your own mental fight and what you can work through. I think this is now the next step for her. Adelaide is, right now, taking a step as she has to, and it’s a very important one for her to grow.”
Minnella will get another chance to etch her name in the West Essex record books when the Knights take another trip to South Jersey for what should be a thriller with No. 2 Camden Catholic on Saturday. The winner will be the undisputed top-team in the Garden State heading into the postseason.
“To be honest with you, I think as soon as she gets it over with, I’m going to get to see my kid back to who I love,” Cosse continued. “I think the immensity of trying to get that goal just becomes heavy.”
You may come across several coach-child combinations in New Jersey high school sports, but it’s rare to find a pair that has been as successful as Cosse and Minnella. Tuesday marked the mother-daughter combination’s 57th win together in less than three full seasons.
“It’s so special,” Minnella said when asked what it means to be coached by her mom. “A lot of people ask me that question. I always say it’s all I’ve ever known, but I’m grateful that it’s all I’ve ever known. I’m grateful that I always have her as guidance. We separate mom, teacher, and coach all really differently— but it all comes together where I know she loves me.”
As a junior captain, Minnella has a golden opportunity to lead the Knights to their sixth consecutive NJSIAA Group 2 state championship when the postseason tournament starts on Tuesday. She’s also 13 goals away from 50 for the season. She would be the eighth player in West Essex field hockey history to reach that mark. After she graduates in the spring of 2026 she’ll get a chance to team up with her older sister, 2024 West Essex graduate Evangeline Minnella, a current freshman on the Villanova field hockey team.
Kingsway Regional has 900-plus more students than West Essex — a much larger population to acquire student-athletes from. The Knights handed the Dragons their first in-state home loss since a 9-3 setback to Eastern in the 2021 sectional championship.
The best part about coach Jill Cosse’s Knights?
They’re not afraid to play anyone.
She spent nearly 20 minutes speaking to her players in the postgame circle. Her message?
“You have to let go of the fear,” she said. “Play with passion. Play with fun.”
Tuesday’s two-hour, 113-mile journey was well worth the mileage — further proving West Essex’s No. 4 national ranking by MAX Field Hockey.
“I’m so excited,” said Minnella. “It’s like everything worked out just the way I wanted it to, and just the way it’s meant to be. I’m definitely very proud of myself, and I’m proud of the way I fought for the past three years and the teammates I’ve had for the past three years.”
After all — as it goes in the movies — Knights often end up slaying the Dragons.
GAME NOTES: Sophia Sisco and Julia Conforti each tallied first-quarter goals to give West Essex an early 2-0 lead.
Click this link to watch the ‘Sideline Snippets’ series, where correspondent Brian Tortella hands a Go-Pro video camera stick to players after the game and they talk about the victory. West Essex is the first North Jersey team to hoist the GoPro:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBufUB7xVmZ/?igsh=MTB5aGZjNGR0Y3FteA==
Contact Brian Tortella: btortreportssj@gmail.com.
