By Wayne Witkowski
Jackson Liberty High School field hockey coach Ashley Forsyth enjoyed a memorable coaching debut, with the Lions going 13-7-1 in a season that ended, 1-0, to Toms River High School South late in second overtime in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group III quarterfinals.
Although Forsyth calls it a rebuilding year with 11 players graduated, some returning key starters make for a solid nucleus when practices begin Aug. 15.
“I hope that competitiveness stays,” Forsyth said.
The team finished tied atop the Shore Conference B South Division with Pinelands Regional High School with 10-2 records last season. They split their regular-season games, with Jackson Liberty winning the first meeting, 2-1, and losing the second, 1-0. Central Regional High School moves out of the division this year, and Lacey Township High School moves in.
“Last year, we had a lot of senior leadership and the players meshed well. We had a lot of strong players at every position — a good combination of experience and balance,” Forsyth said.
But Forsyth said it’s a hard-working, young group, with many promising players who will be juniors this fall, including goalkeeper Katie Koehler and midfielders Tori Wypych and Meghan Iurato, who had six assists.
There also is returning forward Carly O’Connor, a senior this fall who was the third leading goal scorer last season with six.
They have the daunting challenge of replacing Tayler Martini, a forward who broke the school season scoring record with 21 goals, and Gillian Vallaster, a midfielder who set the school assists mark for the season with 16. She also scored eight goals. Tatiana Wypych, a solid defender who is Tori’s older sister, also graduated this spring.
The players competed again this summer on Thursdays in the GoodSports women’s field hockey league in Wall Township, and there are good prospects coming up from a very competitive junior varsity squad that will be coached this year by Samantha O’Connor. Haydee Donza-Piniero coaches the freshman team.
“The girls are so positive and working hard. There was a good group of girls committed to workouts and conditioning every week,” Forsyth said. “We’ll hit the ground running and need to be in shape and building our skills to be competitive.”
The Lions will be tough to score on if Koehler continues to improve in goal after starting from a quarter of the way into last season. Four losses came by one goal and only twice did the Lions allow more than two goals in a game.
“She was playing so well, so consistent in goal and aggressive,” Forsyth said.
The Lions as a team showed improvement through the season, playing to a 1-1 tie with crosstown rival Jackson Memorial High School, a 15-3-2 Central Jersey, Group IV finalist, after losing earlier in the season, 6-2, to the Jaguars.
The Lions will scrimmage against Manalapan High School, Colts Neck High School and Holmdel High School as they prepare for their Sept. 6 opener at home against Howell High School.
