By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher The Ocean City field hockey team has been a buzz saw in the Cape-Atlantic League this year, allowing just one goal to a league opponent and racking up an 18-0 overall record. Today, the Red Raiders will see the teeth of the saw coming at them for a change. At 4 p.m., the Red Raiders will take on Eastern Regional in Voorhees. The Vikings are ranked No. 1 in the nation by maxfieldhockey.com. Austyn Cuneo, a University of North Carolina recruit, holds the national record for career goals scored with more than 300. And coach Danyle Heilig has a resume that is unrivaled in any high school sport. Get this. Since taking over in 1998 at Eastern, Heilig is 362-8-2 and has led the Vikings to five tournament of champions titles; 15 straight conference, sectional and group titles; and a No. 1 national ranking six times. Eastern also holds the national unbeaten games streak at 153. “We’re not intimidated, but we have our work cut out for us,” Ocean City senior Lauren McNally said. “We’re going to go into that game not scared. We have nothing to lose. Yes, they are the No. 1 team in the country, but we definitely will give them competition.” 
Lauren McNally leads the undefeated Red Raiders against the No. 1 team in the country, Eastern Regional, today at 4 p.m. (Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan) “They obviously are an amazingly skilled team and they are intense. We have to focus on ourselves, really, and not the opponent. We have to go all out the whole time. We can’t let their success be daunting for us,” said fellow Red Raiders senior Mary Ney. McNally and Kelly Hanna know the eastern players well, as many of them are teammates of the Ocean City duo in the club season. Hanna said she actually is very good friends with Cuneo. “It’s fun to play them because I do know all of them. Austyn Cuneo is actually one of my really good friends. Lauren and I play club with most of the Eastern team. They are all really great girls and we see how hard they work,” Hanna said. “I like going there and seeing them, but also I know that we can keep up with them and it’s going to help our intensity and our skill level. When we play them, we play up so many more levels.” Hanna said having the No. 1 team in the nation be a team from New Jersey gives the Red Raiders a sense of what the toughest competition on the high school level is like. “It’s awesome, because I’ve played with these girls in club and to know that they are on the No. 1 team in the nation it’s just a really cool experience to be near something like that and to use it to make us better and to get us up to that level,” Hanna said. “We see the things that Eastern does and we try to replicate those things and try to get better because we are so near to them. If the No. 1 team in the nation was in, say, California, it would be a totally different story. Pulling off an upset of monumental proportions would mean quite a lot to the Red Raiders. “We’re going to do our best to give Eastern a run for their money, and we really do respect and value the fact that we can play them to improve ourselves,” Hanna said. “We have to play our passing game. Some of our underclassmen will be nervous. I know when I was an underclassman I got nervous when we played Eastern, but now I’m ready to go out there, sacrifice my body, anything.” So what would it be like to take down the giant? Said Ney, “It would be amazing. That would be so cool.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysay [adsense]
Ocean City field hockey taking on No. 1 team in nation
