By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
Back in September, the Kingsway Regional High field hockey team suffered a 4-1 loss against Darien, Conn., at the MAX Field Hockey National High School Invitational. In early October, a 3-1 loss to Camden Catholic, the No. 2 team in the state.
The Dragons have lost against West Essex, the No. 1 team in the state; against Oak Knoll School, another top-five team. In all, Kingsway enters today’s state playoff opener against Egg Harbor Township with seven losses — uncharacteristic for a team that has been so dominant the last few years.
Last year, the team went 20-2 and won the Group 4 state championship. In 2022, same thing — the Dragons went 20-2-1 and won the state title. The year before that, they went 19-3 and lost to Eastern in the sectional final. In the covid year of 2020, undefeated at 11-0.
This year’s seven losses are the most a Kingsway field hockey team has suffered in the last 15 years.
So how are they the No. 2 seed in the sectional playoffs?
Well, Kingsway has played a brutal schedule, and, combined with a number of first-year varsity starters, the Dragons don’t have their typical shiny win/loss record they’ve enjoyed in previous season.
But coach Dana Ott prefers it that way. To keep winning state championships you have to continue to push yourself and play the best competition. That’s why Ott beefed up the schedule like never before. The Dragons have gone out of the area to play top teams like Oak Knoll and North Hunterdon, and have played outstanding out-of-state competition like Darien, Assumption (Ky.), Notre Dame de Namur (Pa.) and Episcopal (Pa.). Not to mention some of South Jersey’s best, like Camden Catholic (now the No. 1 team in New Jersey after a win over West Essex), Washington Township, Clearview and Haddonfield.
“We’ve had a really hard schedule in kind of a rebuilding year where we lost major players, but youngsters are stepping in,” Ott said. “We have a whole new backfield, and we’re not winning the games we have (in the past). But I’d rather lose close games to really good teams than blow out teams. That’s where we’re at right now.”
Kingsway has lost 3-of-4 heading into the state playoffs, but those setbacks were to Episcopal, West Essex and North Hunterdon — the team the Dragons beat in the state championship game last year. They won’t face anybody that good in the sectional playoffs, save perhaps top-seeded Southern Regional.
“We’ve had a lot of tough games this season, and we did that on purpose to prepare us for our final goal, which is a state championship,” senior defender Erin Callahan said after the recent 3-1 loss to West Essex. “We take these games to learn and fix our mistakes leading up to those high intensity games we’re going to have in the playoffs. Obviously, we want to win, but the biggest takeaways from these games is what we can fix to connect better as a team.”
In that loss to West Essex, Kingsway got down 2-0 in the first quarter and trailed 3-0 in the second half before outplaying the Knights over the final 20 minutes or so. They didn’t get the goals they were looking for, but it gave the Dragons a boost of confidence knowing they could create scoring opportunities against the No. 1 team in the state.
“We played them really tough and that makes us really confident that we can hang with these teams. We know we’re able to keep up with that caliber of play, and that helps our confidence,” Callahan said. “Our biggest thing is connecting as a team, from the backfield through the midfield. Sometimes we have a little bit of disconnect in our passing and through our buildup. If we can start connecting throughout the whole field, we’ll be able to reach our goal.
“The payoff (for playing a tough schedule) is happening. The scores may not be what we want, but I believe we’re going to get there. If we can just play like we did at the end (against West Essex), out-cornering teams and capitalizing on our opportunities, it has to come, with all these games we’ve been playing against tough competition,” Ott said. “We are well prepared (for the playoffs). We have the young girls stepping in and feeling confident. They are like, ‘wow, we have come a long way.’ They’ve really grown and adapted. And the leaders on this team are hungry for that strong competition and they want to rise above and win.”
Ott has seven seniors who are looking to leave their legacy as three-time state champions.
“This has been such a special four years for these seniors. This is the first year when we didn’t come away with some wins that we typically would have against some of the top competition, but they have done their best to handle everything. It’s disappointing, after you’ve been used to winning so much for so many years, but they are handling it with grace and learning a lot about themselves. This team coming together is still a work in progress, but I’m proud of them,” Ott said. “It’s going to take everybody’s everything. We talk a lot about that, everything we’ve got. That’s what you have to do at all times on the field. (Anybody can beat you) on any given day, so you have to take care of what we can take care of and control what we can control.
Added Callahan, “it’s sad that this is my last playoff run, but I’m excited about what we can do because we do have a very talented team that can take us far. I’m excited, and I think we’ll do really well in the postseason.”
NOTES: No. 2 Kingsway opens up the state playoffs today by hosting No. 15 EHT at 3 p.m. The winner plays either No. 7 Eastern or No. 10 Cherry Hill East on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. The semifinals are Monday, Nov. 11 and the sectional championship in Wednesday, Nov. 13 at the highest remaining seed.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com
