CLARK, NJ- The Arthur L. Johnson High School Crusaders varsity field hockey team will face off against Keyport High School in the first round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 State Playoffs. The game will be played on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at 4:00 p.m. on the turf of Nolan Field in Clark, New Jersey. The Crusaders are seeded No. 4 in the bracket, while Keyport is the No. 13 seed.
UPDATE: Game was moved to Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at same time due to weather
The Crusaders started off the season with a 4-0 record, featuring a 2-0 road win at Kent Place HS, who was ranked No. 13 on NJ.com’s Top 20, pushing them into the Top 20 on NJ.com, ranked No. 20. Their first setback of the season came at the hands of Oak Knoll (Then No. 3, Now No. 2 on NJ.com’s Top 20) by a final score of 8-0. They would win the next three games to move to 7-1 on the season. Their next loss came to West Essex (Then No. 1, Now No. 5 on NJ.com’s Top 20).
They went on a seven-game winning streak that included wins over Montclair, Glen Ridge, Montclair-Kimberley, Mount St. Dominic and featured a major boost in the 2017 Union County Tournament. They were the No. 2 seeded team and earned a bye up to the Union County Tournament Semifinals, defeating Kent Place 2-1 in penalty strokes.
They reached the 2017 Union County Tournament Finals, the first one since 2009, before dropping the final to Oak Knoll 6-1.
Last year, the Crusaders reached the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 Semifinals before losing to Shore Regional HS by a final score of 2-1 in double overtime.
Johnson’s offense is led by junior Kaylee Parkhill (17 goals, 11 assists), senior Danielle Nugent (16 goals, five assists) and sophomore Emma Hilton (13 goals, 13 assists). Junior Alyssa Colicchio has two goals on the season and dished out 13 assists going into the final week of the regular season and for the start of the state tournament.
Senior goaltender and co-captain Emma Francisco has stopped 144 shots on the season.
The Crusaders also have a strong defense that features players such as junior mid Amanda Zambrana, senior co-captain back and co-captain Jessica Lopez, sophomore back Heidi Compton, sophomore mid Taylor Turek and senior mid-back and co-captain Amy Wysocki as they have constantly locked out the opposition from reaching the back of the net.
On the season, the Crusaders have scored 64 goals on offense, while the defense has only allowed 24 goals (19 of them coming against the two games against Oak Knoll, one game against West Essex).
Johnson Varsity Field Hockey will go far in the state tournament IF:
First, the offense continues to produce, taking a shot on every chance that they get on the game, especially with teams they could face this postseason.
Second, clean defense and getting in the way of shots. Just have to be ready for the rushes, corners and potential penalty strokes to come to them and make a clean call and be ready to save the shots and keep the momentum rolling as the games go on.
Third, timely scoring and defensive saves, especially after seeing how the game against Shore Regional HS played out, with Parkhill’s goal coming in a game where patience was key and playing together as one well-molded unit.
The NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 bracket is full of teams that are hot, such as top-seeded Shore (the sectional runner-up last year), Madison (defending sectional champions), Delaware Valley, Metuchen, Point Pleasant Boro and Glen Ridge.
