By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Publisher
The Ocean City field hockey team is one of the best in South Jersey — and the state — and has thoroughly dominated the Cape-Atlantic League the past few decades. A CAL team hasn’t even scored on the Red Raiders since the 2014 season. So, in order to face the type of competition the Red Raiders do annually in the state playoffs, coach Cory Terry must beef up the nonconference schedule with as many state powerhouses as possible.
This season features perhaps the most difficult nonconference schedule Ocean City has ever put together. On Sept. 24, the Red Raiders travel to West Essex and on Saturday, Oct. 1, Ocean City welcomes in Oak Knoll for a 5 p.m. game on the new turf at Carey Stadium. Ocean City also travels to Rancocas Valley, Camden Catholic, Bishop Eustace and national power Eastern Regional later in the season.
Senior Alexis Paone said the Red Raiders are excited about their nonconference schedule, particularly a Saturday night home game against Oak Knoll, a team that as of Sept. 20 was ranked No 2 in the state by nj.com. Ocean City is the No. 8-ranked team.
“I’m really looking forward to it. I have been since the beginning of the summer since coach Terry told us we would be playing them,” Paone said. “This will be the first time we’ve ever played them. Coach Terry was saying this year will be the most competitive we’ve ever had with our schedule.”
Oak Knoll beat Bishop Eustace for the Non-Public state championship last year. The Royals then beat Madison, 4-3, in the Tournament of Champions semifinal before falling 5-0 to Eastern Regional — the No. 1 team in the nation — in the title game. Ocean City suffered just two losses last year. One was to Eastern in a regular season, nonconference game, and the other was to Warren Hills in the Group 3 state championship.
Paone said it’s a big step to have a team such as Oak Knoll travel to take on Ocean City at the Red Raiders’ home field.
“We have been working so hard for so many years to develop the type of program we have today, so it’s nice that they want to come to our turf,” Paone said. “I feel like a lot of times we are traveling to other schools. It says a lot, them willing to drive a few hours because they want to play us.”
The Red Raiders hope the marquee matchup brings out a big fan base, and a late afternoon on a Saturday in Ocean City is an ideal time to get the biggest crowd possible.
“Typically, not too many people come to our games, other than our parents, so we’re really looking forward to this game,” Paone said. “Especially since it’s on the turf. Hopefully, a lot of people will come out and get rowdy for us. Having a lot of people there gets us more excited, so I hope a lot of people come.”
This will be a game that features two of the heavyweight field hockey powers in the state, and Paone said it will be important for the Red Raiders to control their emotions and nerves at the beginning of the game.
“We just really need to focus on what coach Terry reiterates to us constantly. It just comes down to us making the adjustments she always tells us about, like having our sticks on the ground and always be moving to the ball. Just little, simple things we need to do that will make us better. We look forward to a game like this. We need to be able to step it up for a game like this. We look forward to it because it gets us ready for the playoffs when we face really tough teams,” she said. “It’s important that control the nerves at the start and come out and play our game, and not have to adjust or react to what they are doing. We need them to react to what we are doing, but sometimes nerves get in the way of that. So, we just need to be confident in our abilities and come out strong.”
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays