Nottingham’s Makenzie Patterson-Brown battles with a West Windsor South player during a 3-2 win on Oct. 5. (Photo by Wes Kirkpatrick.)
It was only one win for the Nottingham High School field hockey team. Heck, squads like Allentown and Hopewell routinely rack up three of them in a week.
But it was so much more than that for those involved.
When the Northstars took a 3-2 victory over visiting West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Oct. 5, it was verification to the players and coaches that good things do come to those who wait, and who keep trying in the process.
The triumph snapped a 26-game losing streak and a 45-game winless streak (0-43-2) for the Northstars, whose last victory came over Hamilton West on Oct. 18, 2012.
“To finally get a victory felt like the world to me, my team and our coaches,” said senior defender Noldia Augustin, a three-year varsity player. “We felt like we finally got what we’ve been working so hard for. It was so good to finally be able to say ‘We won.’ When the buzzer rang at the end of the second half tears instantly came down, I was so happy and felt so proud because I knew that we could do it.”
Goalie Martinique Creech agreed, adding that the win meant so much to the team and coaches, but especially to the seniors.
“Our goal was to finish our high school field hockey careers with a victory, and we accomplished it,” she said. “The girls have been working so hard these past years to get it and we finally did. The losses were very frustrating and hard to take, but we pulled through for a victory, which made the tough times worth it.”
The victory over WWPS was Nottingham’s first over a non-Hamilton Township program since Oct. 24, 2011, when it beat Ranney. It was the first over a Colonial Valley Conference team not from the township since a win over Ewing on Oct. 7, 2010.
That stat says as much about field hockey in Hamilton as it does about Nottingham’s woes. There are no feeder systems in the township, which has made it tough on all three teams. Steinert had a successful run in the 2000s and Hamilton is enjoying its best season in years this autumn, but for the most part the teams get their wins from beating each other.
“I would hate to say that I think it will never happen,” Nottingham coach Jen Cicale said. “However, I feel like a feeder program in field hockey is really on the back burner and only a concern for township coaches, players and parents. (Steinert coach) Alyson Setzer does work to get a winter clinic together but girls have no idea what field hockey is.”
Cicale added that field hockey is not introduced in gym classes and said “maybe that is the next start…get them playing in school, boys too, and their interest will drive a program to be developed.”
For now, Cicale and Setzer work with a PAL winter league for grades 6-8 but that is not the same as having an actual outdoor league. That makes it tough to get quality 9th graders out for the team, as many freshmen come out just to try something different.
“Once I can get a stick in their hand as a freshman, it is the bond the team forms and the love for field hockey that keeps the girls in the program,” Cicale. “The ones who want to learn and grow continue to come back.”
But let’s face it, constant losing has to make it tough for any athlete to keep coming back.
Then again, maybe it doesn’t.
“There was never a time where I wanted to quit,” Augustin said. “Yes we lost many games, but that pushed me to go harder, which made me fall in love with field hockey even more. When people don’t believe in your sport or your team, it doesn’t make you want to quit. It makes you want to prove them wrong and show them that your team is great and not just capable of losing.”
Creech had a flash or two of hanging it up, but that didn’t last long. Teammates like Augustin kept her grinding.
“There were moments when I questioned myself but those thoughts quickly faded,” she said. “I know my team and coaches would never quit, so I would never quit on them.”
If anyone might want to quit, it’s the goalie. Creech played on JV as a freshman, tried cheerleading as a sophomore and came back last year. She is besieged with shots and her games with countless saves might also include numerous goals let up.
“Being a goalie is a tough job no matter how many shots come at you, but it is even heightened when you’re getting peppered,” Creech said. “The experience of being a goalie has been very interesting for me.”
It’s easy to see why. She never touched a stick prior to her freshman year and had no intentions of being a goalie until the team needed one.
“I tried it and fell in love,” she said. “I learned everything about being a goalie from my coaches. I love being a part of the action of the game and cheering for my teammates when the ball isn’t near the cage.”
Love of the game can take a player so far, but every person has a potential breaking point when it comes to lack of success. But Creech and Augustin both had ways of fighting the depression of losing.
Augustin would pick out whatever positives she could from each game. Even if it was a one-sided loss, if she was able to prevent one more goal from going in just by marking her girl, she would file that good feeling away and build upon it in the next game.
Creech admitted to frustration, but added that only led to a more fierce determination between players and coaches, who leaned on each other.
Asked what other ways to keep the team motivated, Cicale laughed.
“Seriously? We have the most intense game of rock-paper-scissor before the game!” the coach said. “The girls realize there are games that we are a long shot, but we have to realize that is only some games. The coaching staff has a great rapport with the girls and that does a lot to keep them interested, coachable and willing to put forth their best efforts game after game.”
When the losing streak ended, Cicale said she felt better for the girls than for herself. The fifth-year coach looks upon her job as a journey as much as a destination. By focusing on the journey, it keeps her from letting the losses engulf her. She also gets a little help from her players.
“Coaching for so long without a win is a constant reflection process,” she said. “I often think, is there more I could have done at practice? Am I putting the right personnel on the field? Do I provide the motivation my players need to go out and win? I think my ability to deal with it comes from the girls. They never quit, they keep coming back for more, and they truly love playing the game.”
Cicale credits Creech and Augustin for being two of the players who have kept the rest of the team moving forward and prevented things from getting dysfunctional.
“Martinique puts the ‘fun” in dysfunction,” the coach said. “Noldia goes so hard on and off the field the girls cant help but want to play better.”
They are the kind of girls who deserved to taste a victory. Once it finally happened, Augustin was happy to bask in it for a day.
“The win really sunk in the next day at school,” she said. “Everyone congratulated us and everyone was so happy and supportive. It wasn’t just a win for my team, it was a win for my school too. The last thirty seconds of the game kept replaying in my head and I kept reliving that moment of victory over and over.
“I love my team so much and I cannot thank them enough for never giving up. But most of all I can never thank my coaches enough for never losing faith in us. Day after day, practice after practice they reminded us that we can get a victory and that we deserve it. If it weren’t for their belief in us, we wouldn’t have won.”
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